Digital Souls Revised
by Wanderer D
Summary: This is a Megaman X & Digimon x-over that I wrote a couple of years back and now has new life flowing through its veins. R&R!
1. Digital Souls 1 Revised

Digital Souls  
  
By  
  
Wanderer D  
  
Author's notes for the Revised Version  
  
Digital Souls starts just after the battle between Tai and Matt, who was under the influence of Cherrymon's ill advice. Prior to this, everything had occurred just as in the original Digimon Adventure series: The kids arrived at File Island, fought and defeated Devimon, then Etemon. Then they returned to earth and fought Myotismon, only to go back to the Digital World to fight the Dark Masters. They defeated Metal Seadramon, and were fighting Puppetmon who convinced Cherrymon to help him.  
  
Dr. Wily's hack into the Digital World happens -story wise- after "Megaman and Bass", while the events that take place in Megaman X's world happen just after Megaman X4. Neither Megaman X5, 6 or 7 were out at the time I originally wrote this, but there's no reason to exclude them as there is no immediate threat from Sigma.  
  
All the chapters of the story have been revised, including the Epilogue, which has a few new scenes and the "teaser" for the upcoming story taking place in the Digital Souls universe.  
  
At the very end I also added the Appendix to try to explain some things about the story that might be confusing.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
This disclaimer is for the whole story, and if anyone should for any reason put the story in his or her websites, I ask you to please include this.  
  
Digimon Adventure and all related characters and concepts are the property of TOEI and Akiyoshi Hongo. Megaman and Megaman X and all the related characters and concepts, except for those mentioned below, belong to Capcom. No abuse is intended of their products and I'm using them without any monetary intent or for plagiarism. Credit is due where it's due.  
  
The characters: Black Peregrine, Red Cardinal, Blue Raven, Afroman and Ice Lynx were my creations. Shock Dragoon, a.k.a. Shocker was created by The Judge and is used with his permission. 


	2. Digital Souls 2 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 1  
  
A creature with rough yellow skin and a reptilian snout, a spiraling thorn sticking out of its forehead and almost completely covered in a white wolf's pelt with dark blue marks, was running on it's two hind legs, balancing each step with it's saurian tail, after a blonde ten-year-old kid and shouting his name as the young human ran through a forest.  
  
"Matt! Wait!" The creature yelled at the kid.  
  
"What?!" Matt asked bitterly, stumbling as he slowed down.  
  
"You can't leave ME behind!" the creature said, stopping to pant next to him.  
  
Matt stopped completely and looked at the creature. He could see it had immediately regretted its words.  
  
"Matt, I- I'm going to be with you all the time. No matter what. You are my friend!" the creature said, walking closer to him.  
  
Matt smiled slightly at the creature and hugged it. "Thank you, Gabumon. I don't know what I'd do without you!" he confessed, resting his head on the soft pelt for a moment before standing up and urging his friend to walk.  
  
They walked all afternoon deeper into the forest, not really paying attention to their surroundings, which were a literal mixture of electric house appliances, trees and giant plugs.  
  
The day gave in to the night and the strange constellations of the Digital World seemed to flicker into existence after the last brush of rosy light faded.  
  
After making a small campfire, Matt sat back-to-back with Gabumon and pulled out his harmonica. With a barely perceptible sigh, Matt brought the silver instrument to his lips, closing his eyes and started a slow melody.  
  
Gabumon drifted to sleep with the soothing sound of Matt's music. The human boy played for a while into the night, smiling a little at his Digimon's soft snoring, and also drifted of to sleep under the stars.  
  
***  
  
Surrounded by electronic equipment in his vast laboratory, Dr. Wily tapped at his computer, thinking furiously. His latest, meanest, best and downright masterpiece was lacking... a soul, so to speak. And, what he needed now was a computerized soul for Project Zero.  
  
There had been some developers working on that, most prominent among them his nemesis, Dr. Light.  
  
Everything else was finished; the armor itself was strong enough to withstand the combined fire power of all his previous inventions, yet it was also very thin, and weighed almost nothing. It was painted a metallic red; a color Wily favored, for its aggressive appearance. Project Zero would also have a strength that would put to shame heavy duty construction units for many generations to come. It was faster than anything similar built too, and he had loaded practically every weapons program he could manage to find. The only problem would be creating a versatile 'soul' and mind, which would give it the advantage it needed to prevail against Light's creations.  
  
And so, Wily was hacking into the cyber-world where he would be able to access the database he thought would most probably contain what he wanted. But, as he tapped and hacked various defensive firewalls, he encountered an unexpected solution.  
  
"What the?!" Wily exclaimed as he ran a program to check what he had found. "Can it be?" he waited eagerly for the results, "It IS!" he cried in triumph.  
  
Wily jumped up and down, dancing around the room before stopping and doing a victory sign towards his PC.  
  
"A whole human mentality, attitude, personality, skills and... if what I'm reading is correct, this program will allow my masterpiece to be almost human! Pity about the soul, though." Wily smiled, it would have been great to have a human's soul transferred into Project Zero, but the scientists wouldn't hear about it and he didn't have the knowledge to do it himself.  
  
He looked a little deeper into the program and noticed that it came complete with a design! Hmm... A little young looking, but it was to be expected from the genius who had made it. He would have to agree that a kid would be easier to handle. He would have to make it age a little.  
  
He experimented with the face for a while, making it a little more mature before deciding that it could fit his plans perfectly. "There. Now, looks done, let's start with the serious stuff!"  
  
Smiling in joy he started downloading the digital 'soul' he had found. He encountered a protective program, but it was easily bypassed.  
  
***  
  
"Arghh!" Matt yelled, rolling to his side and clutching his arms.  
  
Gabumon immediately woke up with Matt's first scream of pain.  
  
"Matt?!" The Digimon looked in horror as Matt fell to the ground, slowly fading from view. His friend started becoming transparent, and then his hands disappeared, followed up by every other part of Matt's body.  
  
Gabumon jumped and tried to grab Matt, but some kind of invisible wall prevented him from reaching his friend. The last thing he was able to see was the confusion and pain in Matt's eyes as his body faded from view completely.  
  
"MATT! MATT!" Gabumon wailed looking around for his friend. When he finally discovered Matt's Digivice, Tag and harmonica lying on the ground, he realized the boy was gone. Gabumon fell to his hands and knees, crying for his friend.  
  
After a few minutes, he finally stopped. He stood up and cleaned his eyes with the back of his pelted arm and then turned around walking towards Puppetmon's house, and back to the other Digidestined.  
  
He could find Matt with his Digivice, but he would need the other Digidestined help.  
  
***  
  
"I don't want to fight anymore," A girl in a pink cowgirl dress, with a pink cowgirl hat said. "I'm gonna stay here."  
  
"But, Mimi, we have to go to the other Dark masters!" Another boy, with a mop of brown hair, held at bay by a pair of goggles, rationalized.  
  
"Tai," another boy, a little older and wearing a pair of glasses, started to say, when the bushes next to them rattled.  
  
"You are not going anywhere!" Gabumon said as he walked out of the bushes and into the group of seven youths and their Digimon companions.  
  
Everyone stopped discussing as Gabumon walked into their midst, weary and teary-eyed. The Digimon had seen better days. The obvious absence of Matt immediately worried the others.  
  
"Gabumon! Where's Matt!?" Tai asked, worried.  
  
Gabumon was a little surprised at the very real fear in Tai's eyes. He had supposed that Tai would still be angry with Matt, after their recent fight, but it was obvious it would take more to strain Tai's friendship. Matt was his friend too, after all.  
  
A little more relieved, Gabumon slumped to the ground. He had been looking for the Digidestined all night and was tired and sweaty. After explaining what had happened Gabumon stood up and faced the others.  
  
"I don't know what happened, but I know Matt is alive, and you have to help me get to him!" Gabumon said, his eyes shining with renewed vigor.  
  
Everyone's faces turned grim and they all nodded as one.  
  
"Let's go!" Tai ordered as he pulled out his Digivice, followed by the others.  
  
"No!" Matt's Digimon interrupted, startling everyone.  
  
"What? Gabumon..." Agumon, Tai's Digimon, an orange raptor, like a miniature T-Rex, started to argue.  
  
"Listen, you guys have to stay here and help out. I'll help Matt. Just help me get there!" Gabumon said.  
  
"But..." Sora, the sport-loving girl that had come with them to the Digital world, home and back, began. "We can help when we get Matt back."  
  
"No, Sora! You guys have a responsibility towards the Digiworld! I'm going to get Matt back, and then we'll all free this world together!" Gabumon promised, looking up at her. "But you cannot leave the Digiworld... who will protect it from the Dark Masters?"  
  
The others didn't like the idea but it was the simple truth. And they all believed in Matt and Gabumon.  
  
T.K., Matt's younger brother, and one of the two youngest members of the group hugged Gabumon tightly, as Patamon, his Digimon lay a comforting wing on his shoulder. "Please bring my brother back." T.K. pleaded softly.  
  
Gabumon returned the hug and nodded solemnly. "And you guys take care of Puppetmon." Was all he asked of them.  
  
***  
  
Wily uploaded the program into Project Zero's body, carefully suppressing those parts he didn't like. "Loyalty... Good, he will be loyal to ME! Hmmm... Independence? As long as it doesn't interfere with his mission... I don't want another Protoman..." he muttered.  
  
And so, Wily worked hard into the night and the next morning, finally filtering the whole program. He found out that this program would be destroyed if he removed anything. HE himself couldn't understand much of it, and he didn't dare touch this program. Curiously the program auto- erased itself when it was transferred and he couldn't make any copies.  
  
"Now to check how much time it would take for the program, energy devices and weapons to become 100% effective..." Wily said to himself, as he turned the diagnosis program on.  
  
***  
  
34 years later:  
  
Zero walked through the Maverick Hunter's HQ, thinking, his metallic boots making a clanking sound each time he took a step.  
  
"X," Zero greeted, noticing his friend already standing before the computers.  
  
"Hi, Zero!" X greeted back, smiling enthusiastically at him.  
  
Zero nodded and sat down, putting his feet up on the table.  
  
"There's a Maverick raid again, this time in the city. The difference is that it seems to be an organized raid." Dr. Cain's voice informed them.  
  
"That means..." X started.  
  
"That something or rather someone is controlling them. And I think we might know who it is." Zero finished grimly. "Well," he muttered as he stood up, "there's only one way to find out."  
  
***  
  
Both fighters materialized in the middle of the city. The Mavericks had gone outwards destroying everything and everyone that stood in their way.  
  
"I'll go southeast, you go northwest!" Zero told X, who nodded and left with a quick dash.  
  
***  
  
In a computer shop, X blasted through two Maverick goons, their spiked balls falling around in a mess. He suddenly noticed a monitor glowing softly. Deciding to investigate, he crept closer, after making sure there were no enemies in the immediate area. As he approached, a sixth sense warned him of a danger, and he immediately ducked and rolled, turning around with his Mega Blaster pointing at the general direction where the blast that had turned the place he had been standing on into a sizzling pull of acid had come from.  
  
"Well, if it isn't the famous X," A voice remarked with overacted boredom.  
  
"Come on out!" X shouted angrily.  
  
The figure that crossed the door looked like a mixture of a human-like Reploid and a rat, with impressive incisors and a tail pointed by some kind of gun.  
  
"I'm Spray Rat! And you are mine!" Spray Rat shouted and fired a stream of acid from the tip of his tail that X was almost unable to evade.  
  
X dashed under the stream and charged his Mega Blaster. When he was just in front of Spray Rat, he let loose, sending the later flying and crashing into a console. Spray Rat got up.  
  
"Teeth Clasp!" the Maverick yelled and jumped towards X and just as he was about to sink his teeth at the surprised Hunter, the computer monitor X had noticed glowing gave off a flash of light and something materialized in front of it.  
  
X ignored the strange dog-like creature, for the moment, and taking advantage of Spray Rat's distraction blasted him, blowing his head right off.  
  
X turned around when he heard a gasp and was just able to see the strange creature disappear around a corner. As he was about to check it out, he heard his radio channel opening.  
  
"X, our work here is done! Let's go back to base and see what we got!" Zero's voice said, crackling through the static.  
  
"Roger! I'll just check something first!" X answered, and started walking towards Spray Rat. He absorbed Spray Rat's acid spray gun into his weaponry, and as he did it, he noticed something shining on the ground.  
  
Walking towards it, he picked the small metal object and looked at it for a moment. Shrugging, he threw it into the air and caught it before he started to walk towards the back of the store, where the creature had run to, when he noticed the computer was still glowing, and sudden bursts of energy started appearing.  
  
X managed to get out of the store just before every computer inside exploded.  
  
He stared at the store for a few moments before teleporting back home.  
  
***  
  
"And then, just before leaving, I found this on the ground," X finished. Motioning at the harmonica.  
  
Cain looked at the harmonica on the table. "Do you know what that is, X?"  
  
X shook his head.  
  
"A... harmonica?" Zero asked as he picked it up.  
  
Cain nodded and turned his attention to X. "Indeed. I hadn't seen one in more than 40 years! Ever since computers started playing all instruments there haven't been people who bothered to master its play-"  
  
The Dr. was interrupted by Zero, as he played a soft tune that sounded both, sorrowful and hopeful. It was a beautiful little piece, and both he and X waited until Zero was finished before clapping appreciatively.  
  
"Zero! I didn't know you could play so proficiently!" The good doctor applauded. X merely nodded in surprise.  
  
"I didn't know, either." Zero confessed as he looked down at the small instrument as if it had the fault.  
  
***  
  
Under the city, Gabumon finally stopped running blindly. It seemed that creature which he somehow didn't think was human even if it looked the part, wouldn't be following him.  
  
Sighing in relief at avoiding a fight with someone who would blow their enemies head without a second thought he took stock.  
  
"Matt's Digivice... check." Gabumon said, putting it away securely. "Matt's Tag... check." He said pulling the string he had tied around his neck. "Matt's harmonica..."  
  
Gabumon paused in a sudden panic, looking around to see if he could find it anywhere. After a few desperate minutes he concluded that he didn't have it with him. "Oh, damn. Matt is gonna kill me!" He shouted.  
  
Gabumon quickly returned to normal. "Ok, first things first; I have to find Matt. We'll find his harmonica later. And that means you." He took out the Digivice. "Please, oh, please let me find Matt!" he pleaded to the small digital object.  
  
***  
  
"Sheesh! One would think that at the rate they're making weapons they would've done something to keep the sewers clean!" Muttered an almost human looking Reploid wearing a yellow helmet.  
  
"You don't know the half of it, partner! At least you don't have to smell it like I do!" responded the human standing next to him. "Good thing I left my lunch outside."  
  
The two climbed up a metal stair out of the sewers. They cleaned themselves and took off their overall uniforms.  
  
The human sat down on the sidewalk and opened his launch box, taking out a huge subway-style sandwich. As he was about to dig in, he heard a kid's voice next to him.  
  
"Wow! That's a big sandwich! I bet it tastes delicious!" the kid said.  
  
"Beat it, kid. This is not for you!" The man grumbled. What was a kid doing here anyway?  
  
"Not even a tiny bite?" The voice insisted.  
  
"No. Look here," The man turned around to face the little pest. Only to find himself staring at a dog-lizard-mix creature with the meanest fangs he had seen in his life.  
  
Letting the sandwich drop, the man screamed and ran away.  
  
"Wait! Don't you want your sandwich? Guess not." When his stomach grumbled, Gabumon dropped all pretenses and dug in.  
  
***  
  
X opened the door to the roof of Maverick Hunter HQ where Zero sat: back against the wall and playing that harmonica. The music echoed through the street as the melody unfurled.  
  
Zero had appropriated the harmonica after X had said it was fine, and spent almost every minute of his free time playing it. Ever since that last attack, there hadn't been any more raids for almost two weeks, and Dr. Cain believed that Spray Rat had probably been a left over from the war with the Reploid Army.  
  
X waited until his friend had finished before walking up to him. When he was near enough, he noticed Zero had a lost look on his face and was just finishing one of his latest sighs. He had been sighing a lot lately.  
  
"Hey, Zero!" he greeted, waving a hand.  
  
Zero looked up a little surprised, but then nodded at him. "Hey, X. How's it going?"  
  
"Couldn't be any better!" X answered cheerfully. He crossed his arms and reclined on the wall looking down at the city below.  
  
"You seem awfully cheerful today." Zero remarked.  
  
X nodded before answering. "Yeah! It seems we won't need to fight! We haven't heard anything from the Mavericks other than that raid two weeks ago!" he said, gazing out into the sky. "This looks like it, my friend! No more wars, we can all live in peace."  
  
"Geez! You sound like Mimi!" Zero blurted out.  
  
"Who?" X asked, looking at his friend askance.  
  
"I... I don't know..." Zero answered.  
  
X looked at his friend worriedly. Zero had told him about those nightmares he had had about the strange Doctor, destroying many Reploids... and he hoped his friend was okay.  
  
***  
  
Gabumon ran around the city trying to avoid people. The Digivice had pointed to this building, and just a few minutes ago, he had heard Matt's harmonica! It couldn't be any doubt that it was Matt who was playing it. It was his feelings that could be heard, lonely but hopeful.  
  
"Matt..." Gabumon whispered. The Digimon couldn't fail to be relieved. He hadn't seen Matt in the two weeks he had been here, and his link to his friend had only strengthened this last few days.  
  
Gabumon looked around the building for a good way in. It was a fortress, and, when he was about to give up, he found a small window. With a little pushing and struggling he was able to get inside. Once there, he found himself in a broom closet. Opening the door a crack he spied through it and then eased his way out, carefully closing the door after him.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 1 


	3. Digital Souls 3 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 2  
  
Their silent alarms went off suddenly.  
  
X and Zero looked at each other in surprise before running to the command center, followed by a few other hunters.  
  
"What is it?!" Zero demanded once everyone quieted down.  
  
"We have found an operating Maverick base, and it's full of Nukes!" Dr. Cain informed them, pacing nervously in front of them.  
  
This aroused a few murmurs through the ranks, but nobody panicked. They were here to protect this world and it's inhabitants, and that's what they would do.  
  
"We attack tonight. It is my belief that they haven't found out that we know about them. You are the only ones who know about this, don't tell the other units. We don't need panic if some people happen to hear about it."  
  
Everyone present nodded.  
  
As they left Zero was stopped by one of his fellow Hunters, a black armored, black-winged, hawk-helmed female Reploid known as Black Peregrine, a recent addition to the team, along with Ice Lynx, a Lynx-human Reploid.  
  
"Hey, Zero. The guys asked me to tell you that they would like to hear you play that harmonica of yours, if you don't mind." She said, with a smile. "They were very insistent."  
  
Zero nodded, smiling slightly.  
  
***  
  
Gabumon hid behind another door as two more robots ran past him.  
  
"Did you hear what Peregrine said? Zero's gonna play the harmonica!"  
  
Gabumon stiffened at that, and listened closely.  
  
"He did? Cool! He's a superb player! Let's go! Where is it?"  
  
"Follow me!"  
  
Gabumon marked the two robots' smell and after a few seconds ran out the door following them.  
  
Either this Zero played the harmonica just like Matt, or he knew where Matt was, or it was a nickname for his friend.  
  
***  
  
Zero scratched the back of his head absently, as he looked at his harmonica.  
  
Leaving his helm behind and pushing his hair back in a ponytail, he left his room and walked towards the general conference room, where he had agreed with Peregrine to play.  
  
When he opened the door for the podium, a large sweat drop formed on the back of his head as he noticed the amount of people. It was probably the whole base! He briefly wondered who was keeping watch.  
  
Looking around he noticed the grinning X and Peregrine, making him signals to bow to the audience and play.  
  
Muttering to himself, he walked up the podium and to his irritation was the victim of a series of applause. He was going to kill both Peregrine and X for this!  
  
Still, he felt a little happy about all the attention for his music. He put the harmonica to his lips and played a cheery melody that he knew, somehow, by heart. It was a little strange, since he hadn't practiced, but he soon found himself swaying with the music.  
  
He finished abruptly when there was a commotion from the back of the room. His concentration broken, he looked up seeing saw a doglike creature that was strikingly familiar running down towards him.  
  
A beam of light suddenly shot out from the creature and hit Zero's chest. The Reploid clasped his head and cried out in pain as memory came back to him through the Digivice.  
  
Memories buried by Dr. Wily's programming came back in a flood, feelings and fears and a lost life invaded his mind so suddenly that he was unable to stay standing.  
  
X, seeing his friend fall down, ran towards him as Peregrine shouted commands.  
  
"Get that creature! We have to know what it did to Zero!"  
  
Gabumon had thrown the Digivice to Matt, but he hadn't expected it to become a ray! He saw Zero fall down after being hit, and the robot that had destroyed the Rat creature running towards him. He was going to protect Matt when he became aware of every gun pointed at him.  
  
He began to evade and shoot his enemies, not causing much damage against the titanium armor the troops used.  
  
However, his attacks weren't shrugged off either. His blue fire could break trees in half easily and those unfortunate soldiers that were hit were sent sprawling or flying by the impact.  
  
As the battle raged in the background, X kneeled next to his friend and picked up the strange glowing device that was lying next to him.  
  
Gabumon shouted as someone's plasma bolt hit him, and at that moment Zero's eyes snapped open.  
  
He grabbed the Digivice from a bewildered X and stood up. Gabumon was in trouble; he was wounded and many of the soldiers jumped towards him.  
  
Zero grabbed the Digivice and shouted.  
  
"Garurumon!"  
  
From under the pile of struggling Reploids, Gabumon's voice could be heard clearly.  
  
"Gabumon Digivolve!" To be replaced by Garurumon's voice. "GARURUMON!"  
  
All the Reploids flew back as the Digivolved Gabumon grew into the giant blue wolf. Wicked fangs shone white as the wolf the size of a Buick growled threateningly.  
  
To the sides, Peregrine, unaware of Zero's intentions, cursed and began charging her booster.  
  
Zero noticed her however. "STOP!"  
  
Everyone stopped as Zero walked down the podium and calmly hung the Digivice on his belt and tied his tag around his neck.  
  
Garurumon, noticing this stopped, too, and devolved back into Gabumon.  
  
Zero stood a few feet from Gabumon and they regarded each other for a few, tense seconds. Everyone awaited Zero's claim to end this fight by himself.  
  
"Gabumon..." Zero said, with a touch of nostalgia.  
  
"Matt..." The creature answered.  
  
Zero smiled slightly. "I'm called Zero now, my friend."  
  
"But, it is you, isn't it?" Gabumon asked, peering at him hopefully.  
  
Zero's smile evolved into a grin as he nodded. Gabumon jumped forward and embraced him in a hug. Zero fell to his knees as he held Gabumon closely.  
  
Everyone face faulted.  
  
Zero looked up from over Gabumon's shoulder and jerked his head to the door, looking at his friends. X and Peregrine shared a look and evacuated the room, leaving the two friends together.  
  
"Are you going to be okay, Zero?" Peregrine asked standing next to the door.  
  
Zero nodded at her reassuringly. She nodded back doubtfully but stepped outside too.  
  
"How's T.K.? Has he married yet? How's everybody? Did we win?" Zero started asking questions as soon as the door was shut.  
  
Gabumon blink-blinked. "What do you mean? I came here the next day with the help of the others! I've been looking for you this last two weeks!" The Digimon said.  
  
"What?! But, that's impossible! You couldn't have! I've been here for at least thirty six years!" Zero exclaimed.  
  
Gabumon looked quizzically at his friend. "Well, you look a little taller, but still look pretty much the same to me to be forty seven!"  
  
Zero shook his head and grabbed Gabumon's paw, putting it against his chest.  
  
"What do you feel, Gabumon?" He asked.  
  
Gabumon closed his eyes, then opened them and stared at his friend.  
  
"Oh, Matt! What have they done to you?!" the Digimon cried out, as tears ran down his cheeks and he pressed his ear to Zero's chest trying to hear what he now knew wasn't there. There was a constant hum, but no heart beat.  
  
"They haven't," Zero answered. "A crazy doctor did this to me. He also erased most of my memories and feelings, leaving only what he wanted." He sighed. "Or that's what I think; my memories are still not very clear about that."  
  
Gabumon didn't react, and Zero pulled him back looking into his eyes.  
  
"But somehow, I was still myself! I couldn't remember much, true, but the real me, Matt, has always existed, and always will! The Digivice gave me back my life, and it brought with it one of the most important pieces of my life I have had. You and the memories of T.K. and my friends."  
  
Gabumon nodded, hugging Zero yet again. "I knew, deep inside, that you wouldn't leave me. Ever." He said, his sound muffled as he fought yet another outburst of tears.  
  
Zero patted Gabumon's head softly.  
  
Gabumon looked up at him. "We have to go back! It's possible that time here is even faster than in Digiworld! That would explain why it took me only a few hours while years passed here! We have to help the others with the Dark Masters."  
  
Zero stood up slowly and nodded. "But first I have a mission to accomplish."  
  
"Mission? But, Matt, we have to help our friends!" Gabumon insisted.  
  
Zero sighed and walked to the door, inviting X in. "X, this Gabumon a friend from a life long forgotten... until now." He said, motioning with his left hand at the Digimon.  
  
X looked down at Gabumon doubtfully.  
  
"Gabumon, this is X. He's the best friend I've had since I came to this world. Together we have fought Mega level Monsters and won."  
  
Gabumon, still confused, looked at him.  
  
"Mega Level? Like Metalgarurumon?"  
  
Zero nodded. "Think of me as a Mega Level Digimon, and I don't need to Digivolve to do it. Both X and I get stronger every time we fight Mavericks."  
  
Gabumon backed off a little. This was Matt, no doubt, but what had the time in this world done to him that he would fight constantly?  
  
"Matt, why do you fight?" he asked.  
  
"We have to protect the world and the people we know. This is our job." Zero answered.  
  
Gabumon nodded. For a moment he had feared that his friend had turned into a fighting machine with no other purpose other than fighting.  
  
"So you still fight to protect?" Gabumon asked, more than stated, but with a general feeling of relief.  
  
X decided to get into the discussion.  
  
"Still fight? What does he mean, Zero?" The Reploid asked.  
  
"His name's Matt! MATT!" Gabumon interrupted.  
  
Zero ignored the Digimon and looked at X straight in the eye before starting to explain.  
  
"Once upon a time, I was an 11 year old boy named Matt; I left my home along with my brother and six other friends to save both, my world and the Digiworld. About thirty six years ago I was transformed into Zero, without any memories or knowledge of my previous life."  
  
X looked incredulous at Zero as his friend continued.  
  
"When Gabumon came looking for me, he brought my Digivice." He showed his Digivice to X, "It's a digital device attuned exclusively to me. When it was close enough, the Digivice made contact with me, and overrode the programming that was keeping my memories locked." Zero explained, giving the small object to X, who took a careful look at it.  
  
"What did you mean that you had another mission, Matt?" Gabumon asked.  
  
X shot a warning glance at Zero, who nodded. "I'll tell you later Gabumon, but we have to be somewhere else."  
  
Zero brightened somewhat and turned to X. "Hey, we'll even tell you our stories!" he said.  
  
***  
  
Black Peregrine paced outside the conference room keeping an eye out for anyone who tried to get inside. By now everyone in the base knew about the strange creature that had rampaged into the conference hall and that apparently Zero had a connection to it.  
  
Finally the doors opened and Zero, X and Gabumon walked out. Peregrine met them just outside.  
  
"What happened? Why did you take so long?"  
  
"It's okay. I was just remembering the good old days with my friends." Zero said cheerfully, earning a few stares from his comrades. "We'll see you later, BP."  
  
Peregrine nodded and walked up to Zero and X, whispering something. Despite the whispering, Gabumon's keen ears were able to her words.  
  
"I have just received confirmation. We go at 11:30. We've got three hours." She said. "I'll gather the rest of the team."  
  
Zero and X both nodded.  
  
"Okay you two, come with me." Zero instructed, motioning at Gabumon and X.  
  
X and Gabumon followed him to his room, where they all sat down. Zero started explaining his story from the point when he woke up and fought Sigma for the first time.  
  
Gabumon was horrified at Matt's actions, but he was relieved when Sigma brought him to HQ and healed him.  
  
Then, both X and Zero took turns explaining the battle against the transformed Sigma. Gabumon could see the pain in X as he described the battle with Vile and how Matt had sacrificed himself to save him.  
  
He then was furious with Sigma for trying to turn Matt into X's enemy. He heard with interest about their third battle against that same Reploid.  
  
Matt explained that he had loaded an anti virus into his sword that did extra damage to Sigma, and had given his sword to the golden X as he fought his way to the monster.  
  
Then came the time of the battle with Repliforce. Matt told him about Iris and his brother, the times they had worked together and when they fought.  
  
Gabumon couldn't help to hug Matt when his voice cracked as he retold Iris's death. It was an incredible story, full of dangers and adventures.  
  
Gabumon could now understand what Matt had said about having a mission, as Matt told him about the apparent return of the Mavericks and that they would fight them that same night.  
  
"I will go with you." Gabumon stated.  
  
Zero sighed. "Listen, Gabumon..."  
  
"No, Matt. You listen. We once made a promise to be together through thick and thin. Now you're asking me to leave you! I'm sorry but I won't!"  
  
"Gabumon..." Zero whispered, but brightened up after a moment's thought. "If you turn into Weregarurumon, you might be able to accompany us."  
  
"Weregarurumon?" X asked confused.  
  
It was now Matt's and Gabumon's turn to tell their story.  
  
X paid rapt attention to their words, cheering for their victories and mourning for the loss of Wizardmon and the others that had died.  
  
Gabumon understood why Matt cared for his younger friend. Well, younger in attitude. He was seeing T.K. in X, and equally, X treated him more like a big brother than a normal friend.  
  
When they had finished, it was almost time for them to go.  
  
X and Gabumon liked and respected each other, and Zero thanked whatever Kami had allowed him to have such good friends.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine looked askance at the new addition to the team.  
  
Lynx and Afroman, who didn't know who Gabumon was -they had arrived at the base earlier that evening, after going to scout the enemy base- also looked quizzically at Zero, who shook his head.  
  
"Gabumon here is our secret weapon." He explained.  
  
"Gabumon?! What a stupid name..." Lynx muttered.  
  
Gabumon heard, however. "What did you say, Kitten?!"  
  
"It talks!" Afroman noted amused.  
  
Lynx, however, was not amused. "What did you call me!?"  
  
Zero stepped between Gabumon and Lynx.  
  
"Enough! I don't want to send someone to pick up the pieces of the first who argues again. So don't!" he ordered.  
  
Lynx turned around fuming, to find X, Peregrine and Afroman grinning at him. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?" he shouted.  
  
Gabumon, however, was surprised at Matt's change. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face X.  
  
"Don't take it personal; Matt is just being responsible. If we let divisions into the group we might risk failure in our mission, and we can't risk it."  
  
X went over to check his hover bike and Gabumon again considered the situation. X was right, of course. If Gabumon wanted to help Matt he wouldn't do so by fighting with his teammates.  
  
Gabumon walked over to Lynx. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have insulted you."  
  
Lynx was surprised but nodded. "I too am sorry. I shouldn't have called your name stupid. Please forgive me."  
  
Gabumon nodded and walked back to Matt, pleased at the results, and missing the glare Lynx directed at him. Peregrine noticed it however, and decided to keep an eye over both Gabumon and Lynx.  
  
***  
  
The attack was going to be swift and effective. Matt briefed them on the way on how it would work.  
  
The craft they were currently in -A huge oval thing with wings-, would deposit them thirty kilometers away from the Maverick base. Then they would come out of the jungle and sneak into the base undetected.  
  
Being under the radar range and moving at high velocities, they would easily get inside. Once there, they would find the nuclear warheads and disarm them if possible. If not, launch them into outer space towards the sun and then destroy the base. Either way the base should be destroyed.  
  
Gabumon was excited, looking around at the controls, then out of the window. The team took his enthusiasm with stoicism.  
  
Finally, they arrived at the drop point, and Gabumon jumped behind Zero on his hover bike.  
  
"Hold on tight!" Zero warned.  
  
Then they shot out of the ship and through the jungle towards the Maverick base. Gabumon tried to scream, but the speed and the air prevented him from doing anything.  
  
Finally, Gabumon was able to see the Maverick base. It looked like a large, metallic castle with 8 spires and a large dome in the center.  
  
Ice Lynx walked forward guiding them next to a large ventilation shaft. He started freezing it as Afroman informed them that those spires were, in fact, the nuclear missiles.  
  
When the shaft broke down, Zero stopped them. "Listen, we know what will happen once we're inside, so we'll split into teams to take care of the main Mavericks."  
  
"First, we'll reach the center of the complex. Then, Ice Lynx and Afroman will go west, Peregrine will go with Gabumon east, X and I will take north and south respectively. Once you've taken care of the nuke, you will go clockwise and destroy the next one. Then return to the center."  
  
Zero waited a moment to see if everyone understood.  
  
"In short, all the teams should fight two bosses and disable two missiles per team. Once that is done, we'll meet again in the center. Understood?"  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
The only Reploid with a problem was Peregrine. She was quick to voice her opinion, though.  
  
"I have to work with Gabumon? No offense, but he won't be able to do much damage to one of them."  
  
Zero merely smiled at her.  
  
He then knelt next to Gabumon.  
  
"Take care of Peregrine, Gabumon. She may talk much, but she's not that strong..." Peregrine was the rookie of the team, true, but she had adapted quite fast and made fast friends with both him and X.  
  
Zero stood up and walked a little away from Gabumon. He pulled out his Digivice and pointed it at Gabumon.  
  
Having a deeper understanding of the Digivice than before, Zero concentrated on the feelings of friendship he had towards X, Gabumon, Peregrine, Afro and Lynx. Then of the recovered memories of the digital world.  
  
And so, Zero concentrated. The Digivice glowed and to the surprised looks of the others Gabumon Digivolved into Garurumon, and then into Weregarurumon.  
  
To say that Peregrine's expected idea of victory improved would be the same as saying that X would probably find a cool new armor in the building. It was the understatement of the year.  
  
Afroman and X liked their new improvement too, although Lynx looked a little nervous. Maybe it was because Lynx rather looked like a frozen cat.  
  
Zero shrugged and gave the signal to go forth.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 2 


	4. Digital Souls 4 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 3  
  
Peregrine and Weregarurumon ran down a long tunnel towards their destination: the first of the two missiles they would have to stop. On their way they found an assortment of robots which were easily disposed of.  
  
Peregrine was surprised at how well her teammate adapted to fights. She was no longer mad at Zero, although she would have preferred teaming up with *him*.  
  
Weregarurumon blasted to pieces a small bat robot and looked at her. "Are you tired, Peregrine? Your face is going red."  
  
Peregrine's face became even redder and she shook her head. "No! I'm not thinking about Zero! Let's go!" She spread her wings and flew down the tunnel, stopping further argument.  
  
"But... I didn't ask that!" Weregarurumon shouted as he ran after her.  
  
Finally they reached a titanium alloy door. Peregrine touched a pad next to it and it opened without so much of a whoosh. However, the Maverick inside would know of their intrusion by now.  
  
The door opened to reveal...  
  
"Shocker!"  
  
"You know him?" Weregarurumon asked in surprise.  
  
Peregrine nodded. "His name is Shock Dragoon. He's the younger brother of Magma Dragoon, another Hunter turned bad."  
  
Shocker looked similar to Magma Dragoon, a mixture of human and dragon but he was lighter and incredibly swift. His armor was yellow, unlike Magma Dragoon's crimson.  
  
"Peregrine... Long time no see..." Shocker greeted. "Tell me, have you come to join us, or to die here?"  
  
Shocker closed his fists and blue lightning surrounded him then flew around the room, rebounding on the walls to finally converge on his body again, and almost disappear. It's only residue evident in the eerily glowing eyes of Shocker, and the fists crackling with energy.  
  
***  
  
Zero dashed down another tunnel, barely even stopping as he cut and slashed through his enemies. Finally he reached his own objective, and after opening the reinforced door, dashed in.  
  
He found himself standing in a large factory full of large ovens. For a moment he had a sinking feeling in his gut as he heard a roar. Then his instincts took control as he jumped back and away from four lines of fire that cut the air -and the ground- where he was standing mere seconds ago.  
  
Pulling his saber in front of him, he prepared himself for action as his attacker walked into the room.  
  
The Maverick that stood in front of him had the face and mane of a lion and the lower body of a human; his feet and armored hands ended in claws and were covered in fire.  
  
"I am Fire Lion! Prepare to die, Zero!"  
  
Zero smiled as the familiar thrill of battle invaded his body. The only warning Fire Lion had was the fire burning in Zero's eyes as the latter shot forward, swinging his saber in an upward slash.  
  
***  
  
X shouted, jumped, dashed, fired, retraced his steps and generally made a mess of the enemies that appeared in his way. When finally none was left, he calmly walked to the door and blasted it open.  
  
Inside he found himself face to face with a Minotaur out of Greek mythology. Only this one was made out of reinforced metal and with a huge axe. Bulging metallic muscles and two towering and wicked looking horns on each side of its bovine head gave this Maverick an impressive and violent look.  
  
X looked up at the monster. "And who are you?"  
  
"I'm TauroX! THE DESTROYER!"  
  
Without warning, he batted X with his axe against a wall. X grunted as he stood on all fours. He then rolled to the side barely avoiding the axe as it crashed next to his head.  
  
X didn't have time to think as his battle-honed instincts took over. He dashed under the massive minotaur's legs as he charged his booster. X jumped to the nearest wall, and hanging from it shot his charged blast at TauroX's head.  
  
Even though the minotaur blocked the shot with the flat of his axe, he was still shoved back a couple of steps.  
  
"Axe SLASH!" TauroX charged the wall and cut a straight line through it, breaking it in two. X, however, had jumped just before impact and activated his boots, shooting over the minotaur's head.  
  
X had charged his booster yet again, and as his enemy started to tear his axe away, he shot to the small of TauroX's back.  
  
The huge Reploid fell to his knees, temporarily stunned.  
  
***  
  
"I was wondering when you would come here," Shocker commented, casting a curious look at the werewolf standing next to Peregrine. It was not a Reploid as far as he could tell.  
  
"And I was wondering what happened to you after you left." Peregrine answered.  
  
Shocker shrugged non-committal. "Oh, I've been traveling around. Until I heard what happened to my brother!"  
  
Peregrine looked at Weregarurumon worriedly. "Look, Zero had no choice!"  
  
"There's always a choice!" Shocker bellowed as he shot a series of rapid thunderbolts.  
  
Weregarurumon and Peregrine scrambled out of the way as Shocker stopped his barrage.  
  
"Dragoon attacked him and would have killed both Zero and X if he hadn't fought back! The only reason Dragoon had was his wish to fight Zero to the end!"  
  
Shocker would not hear about it and shot out again, this time hitting Peregrine in the chest. Weregarurumon caught her before she crashed onto the wall, and helped her to her feet as she shook off the effects of Shocker's blast.  
  
"Don't lie to me!" Shocker shouted. "I know the truth! Dragoon was weak and Zero killed him!"  
  
Weregarurumon shook his fist angrily at Shocker. "That's not true! Matt would NEVER do such a thing!"  
  
He was blasted out of the way by a lightning bolt.  
  
"Who's Matt, anyway?" Shocker asked.  
  
***  
  
Fire lion grasped the remnants of his arm quickly dashing away from Zero. The latter stopped his blinding attacks and regarded his enemy.  
  
The fire Reploid was cut in several places, his left arm was missing, and two of his claws were cut cleanly. The lion growled and backed off wearily.  
  
Zero walked forward calmly.  
  
***  
  
Shocker stopped attacking them, as he heard something only he could hear.  
  
"You say Zero wouldn't do that?" he asked.  
  
A huge screen appeared behind him.  
  
There they could see Fire Lion, wounded and now short-circuiting, backed against a computer console.  
  
Zero shot forward suddenly. His sword flashing in intricate patterns as he cut Fire Lion to pieces. When the last piece fell to the ground, he stepped in front of the computer and typed something. He then raised his communicator, and, sure enough, they heard Zero's voice clearly.  
  
"Nuke disabled. Moving off to next target."  
  
The screen turned off and Shock Dragoon looked at them, noting Weregarurumon's uneasiness at his friend's actions.  
  
"It is undeniable, Zero massacred Fire Lion when he was obviously helpless. He could have spared him, but no! He killed him quickly and efficiently."  
  
Peregrine frowned. She turned to look at Weregarurumon.  
  
"This is not the time to dwell on that. We have to stop the nuke here and move on to the next!"  
  
Weregarurumon nodded grimly and growled menacingly at Shocker.  
  
Peregrine and Weregarurumon acted as one. The Digimon did a spin kick and released some kind of energy that Shocker easily avoided. The wall behind him shattered with the force of the energy. Both Reploids stared at Weregarurumon in surprise.  
  
"Zero was right when he told me not to underestimate you, Weregarurumon!" Peregrine noted.  
  
Shocker attacked them then, firing his lightning bolts with seeming abandon.  
  
Both fighters avoided the attacks. Weregarurumon suddenly shot out a blue beam from his mouth, which hit Shocker fully in the chest.  
  
As Shocker began to freeze, Peregrine flew towards the nearest computer and started typing.  
  
"Weregarurumon! Keep Shocker occupied while I finish here!" she shouted over her shoulder.  
  
"Why don't you kill me as your leader killed my brother?!" Shocker demanded between struggles.  
  
"We don't kill our friends, and you know it, Shocker!" Peregrine answered over his shoulders.  
  
"It's probably because you haven't been around Zero long enough!" Shocker growled.  
  
The Reploid was shocked when he was hit by Weregarurumon. The were- creature's huge fist connected with Shocker's face and forced his head painfully back.  
  
"Don't you dare say that about Matt! He would give his life for his friends! That can't be said about you!" Weregarurumon practically shouted.  
  
Shocker looked up at Weregarurumon. "I assume this 'Matt' of which you speak so highly is Zero. On what basis do you tell me he would?"  
  
Weregarurumon glared at Shocker. "He has done so before! He did it to save X from Vile!"  
  
"Caught in battle frenzy." Shocker stated cynically.  
  
Weregarurumon snorted. "You don't know Matt as well as I do."  
  
"And why should you know him any better?! I hadn't seen you ever before with Zero!"  
  
"Because I knew him before he became the machine he is now!" Weregarurumon howled enraged. "I knew a kid that risked his life not once, but twice to save his world and mine! I knew a boy who would rather be tortured than let his brother or his friends get hurt!"  
  
Peregrine and Shocker were staring at Weregarurumon, completely silent.  
  
"It's my fault he's what he is now! If you want to kill someone for the death of your brother kill me!" Weregarurumon declared.  
  
Peregrine walked up to him. "Why? Why would it be your fault?"  
  
"A kid?" Shocker whispered to himself, confused, but Weregarurumon and Peregrine heard him, nevertheless.  
  
"Yes! A kid. I was supposed to protect Matt! I swore I would be there for him, and I promised myself to protect him! But I failed." The werewolf sank to his knees and looked at his hands guiltily. "One night while we both slept he screamed and when I woke up I couldn't get to him as I saw how he disappeared in front of me! And I was helpless! What kind of friend and protector am I that I failed him when he needed me?!"  
  
***  
  
TauroX swirled his axe above his head and slashed at X, who ducked under it and fired at his head.  
  
The minotaur stumbled back as the shot almost blew his head off. He was fast, but X was faster. In a fight against anyone but Zero or X, he would be the clear victor. However, the First Reploid was clearly too much for him, TauroX noted as he was shot yet again.  
  
Suddenly, X's radio activated and both could hear Zero's voice announcing the destruction of one of the targets.  
  
X ignored it, but TauroX was a little disturbed by that. He attacked X again, swinging his axe down when X dashed under him again and shot.  
  
TauroX brought up his axe, but it wasn't a normal blast. It was acid! The Minotaur Reploid was forced to throw his axe away as it melted under the effects of Spray Rat's acid.  
  
TauroX gulped when X looked at him grimly.  
  
***  
  
Shocker was free of the Ice, but he wasn't doing anything but stare at Weregarurumon.  
  
"Then, when I finally come here and find him, I also find out that he has spent 30 or more years here, and worse, my friend was transformed into a killing machine by some idiot!"  
  
He shot his eyes forcibly. "I didn't only fail him; I failed his parents, his friends and his brother."  
  
Weregarurumon shook his head and looked at Peregrine.  
  
"Have we finished here yet? I don't want to stay in this place any longer."  
  
Peregrine looked at Shocker for a moment and nodded.  
  
"Yes, I believe we can go now," Peregrine turned on her transmitter. "This is Peregrine. Target disabled."  
  
X's transmission greeted her in turn. "Roger, mine's too. Let's get on with it!"  
  
They walked out of the room, leaving Shocker to his thoughts.  
  
***  
  
Zero found his next enemy to be the same Rat Reploid X had fought.  
  
"Don't tell me I have to fight you too." Zero muttered closing his eyes and sighing.  
  
"I am Spray Rat! And you have to fight me! You are not to my level of Power! Give up and join us... or die!" the robot replied.  
  
Zero shrugged.  
  
***  
  
X, now having and Axe Spin attack, dashed down to the underground caverns where he would meet his next enemy.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine glanced occasionally at Weregarurumon as they walked up a spiral staircase in the center of the tower where they were to disable the next missile.  
  
The were-creature had remained quiet since they had left Shocker behind, and had instead stubbornly kept his eyes away from her.  
  
Even though she was barely starting to understand the situation she could feel his pain.  
  
"He's not a murderer, you know." She said softly.  
  
Weregarurumon ignored her, although he did frown and speed up a little.  
  
"Sigma would've used Repliforce to kill the whole population in this planet. You cannot call him that when he regretted having to fight Magma Dragoon so much."  
  
Weregarurumon sighed. "I know, Matt told me about it. But that's not what bothers me."  
  
Peregrine was a little confused, but she prodded the Digimon to explain.  
  
"It's the fact that he became a machine just because I couldn't-" he started.  
  
He stopped as Peregrine slapped him hard on the muzzle. He looked up at her in surprise, and noted that she was close to tears. "How can you say that?!"  
  
Weregarurumon could only rub at his cheek flabbergasted.  
  
"We are not simple 'machines'! Each of us has a soul! I don't know how it works or why, but I know I feel pain here," She patted her chest where her heart would be.  
  
"If one of my friends gets hurt. I know I feel. I know I learn and that I have the capacity for love! And you come here and tell me that I'm a lie?! And that X, Zero, Lynx and all the others are living a lie?"  
  
Twin tears slid down her cheeks, and Weregarurumon softly passed his fingers over them, cleaning her face, only to stare at his finger. "You're crying..."  
  
Peregrine rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yes. It's a simple matter to enable these kind gadgets to a Reploids eyes."  
  
Weregarurumon shook his head. "You cried!"  
  
"So?! Is it wrong? Oh, I forgot, since I'm a machine I shouldn't be able to feel emotional pain and cry. Sorry."  
  
This time, Peregrine was the one to start walking away in anger, leaving Weregarurumon to catch up with her.  
  
***  
  
They finally arrived at the top of the tower, and entered a large domed room where a human-looking Reploid in simple black armor waited for them.  
  
"I am Afcaal. I am here to protect this missile from you two losers, so prepare to fight... and die." He said, taking a step towards them.  
  
***  
  
X entered the missile room only to dash under hundred of yellowish tentacle- like... noodles?  
  
"What the?!"  
  
The noodles returned to a dark area of the room, and out of it stepped a Maverick that actually looked like an instant noodle soup!  
  
"You've got to be kidding me!" X shouted, rolling away.  
  
"Megaman! Prepare to die!! Noodle Wall!" Noodleman shouted.  
  
Hundreds of metallic noodles flew at X, who quickly activated his Acid Gun.  
  
X's armor changed from blue and white to green and white, as he shot acid at the approaching noodles.  
  
The acid didn't affect them, however, so he had to dash away.  
  
Noodle man laughed manically twirling his noodle-weapons around in an effort to capture X.  
  
The Maverick Hunter dashed, slid, rolled, jumped and fired at the noodles with his X-buster, but the noodles only looked a little burnt.  
  
"Only one chance now..." X muttered as he activated his newest weapon. A white energy circle surrounded X as he transformed into his new mode. The blue areas in his uniform turned orange, and his X buster was substituted by a double edged axe.  
  
Jumping high into the air and throwing the axe at the noodles, X started his attack.  
  
***  
  
Spray Rat was slammed against the wall, Zero's saber stopping mere millimeters from his throat.  
  
"I thought X had killed you." The Hunter asked the Maverick.  
  
"He did!" Spray Rat gasped trying to pray Zero's arm away from him.  
  
"Well, who rebuilt you then?!" Zero asked.  
  
"I... won't... tell... you!" Spray Rat shouted defiantly.  
  
Spray Rat managed to sneak his gun between the two, firing a spray of acid into the air. Zero jumped backwards, barely able to avoid the deadly rain. Spray Rat wasn't so fortunate. The acid consumed large parts of his furry pelt and face.  
  
Just when Zero had thought the acid would finish his work for him, Spray Rat shot at him.  
  
"My own attack will not kill me!" the half burnt rat shouted angrily.  
  
Zero dashed to the side and was able to avoid much of the spray, however, a few drops fell on his sword arm and he felt it start burning through his armor. Gritting his teeth, Zero jumped at Spray Rat, impaling him into the wall with his sword. Spray Rat had time to look in surprise from the sword to Zero's feral expression just before the latter pulled his sword up cutting the Maverick from the waist up in half.  
  
Spray Rat's cut cables short-circuited and sparks flashed out igniting whatever fluid the acid was and making the former Maverick explode, throwing Zero into the console of the nearby computers.  
  
Which exploded in turn.  
  
Zero dragged himself out of the fire and turned on his back, breathing heavily. He had noticed that he and X were the only ones who did that. Breath heavily that is.  
  
Well, not really, not anymore; Dr. Cain and his comrades-at-lab had reproduced this function into the newest Reploids about a couple of Reploid generations back.  
  
He chuckled slightly. True, they were also the ones that ended up the most beaten up of the group and survived... until Peregrine's group started action. Her team had been able to take a wallop and somehow survive and complete the mission.  
  
It seemed humans related more to Reploids that panted.  
  
For a moment, Zero thought about that thought. He wasn't human; not now, but he wasn't exactly a Reploid either. What was he? Was he Matt? Was he Zero the Maverick Hunter?  
  
Zero groaned, still eagle-spread in the ground, and sighed. He would worry about that when this mission was finished. Right now he didn't have time for Matt the human. Right now he was to be Zero; the Reploid who beat he hell out of Sigma with a broken pipe.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine slammed against a metallic wall, and stayed there, followed mere seconds later by Weregarurumon, who slammed to her right.  
  
Afcaal regarded them for a moment before releasing his gravitational hold on them.  
  
"Damn!" Peregrine grunted.  
  
Weregarurumon could only wheeze as his breath was pounded out of him with the force of slamming on the ground.  
  
Afcaal's armor changed into a red hue as he walked up to them. "Fire Chain!" he shouted.  
  
Peregrine jumped and opened her wings hovering up, while Matt's Digimon rolled to the side as a pair of chains engulfed in fire hit the ground where they had been.  
  
Afcaal's armor changed yet again into a dull brown, and his right hand buster changed into a drill.  
  
"Drill missile!" He shouted as he shot three consecutive missiles at Weregarurumon. The werewolf rolled under one, stepped hastily to the side to avoid the next one and finally jumped over the last. He grinned at Afcaal, but his mirth faded when he saw the Reploid smiling smugly back at him.  
  
Then the missiles hit the wall behind him and Weregarurumon literally flew into the wall at the other side of the room with the ensuing explosion.  
  
Peregrine, who had been charging her buster, didn't waste another minute and fired at Afcaal.  
  
The Maverick was engulfed by the black ray and completely covered in a few seconds. When the darkness around him faded, he had already fallen on one knee. Small trickles of black energy surrounded his body, but dissipated as he stood up.  
  
He angrily twirled around as his armor changed colors into yellow. "Die! Sparkle!"  
  
Peregrine tried to evade it, thinking it would be an electric attack, but the unexpected flash left her stunned and she fell to the ground. A sickening crunch and a scream encouraged Weregarurumon to stand up. He looked in horror as Afcaal, in a rusty-red armor, stabbed some kind of giant needle on Peregrine's left wing. She screamed again as the Maverick stood back to survey his work.  
  
She had been impaled to the wall by two of Afcaal's needles, one on each wing, and she was hanging limply, energy drained and tears slowly streaming down her face. Her booster had apparently blown up and all that remained of it was scrap metal. Afcaal had removed her stylized helm letting her long thick brown hair fall around her face.  
  
She looked like a horribly mutilated angel.  
  
Standing up he started to slowly walk towards his enemy, as Afcaal changed colors again. This time into a variant of yellow.  
  
"You're gonna blow up this time, little birdie." Afcaal taunted.  
  
Peregrine barely registered his words, but the tone was obvious. She closed her eyes and waited for her execution as Afcaal started to charge up.  
  
She felt the electricity build up as her hair started to rise in response to the huge amounts being released. When she heard Afcaal announce his attack she closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable.  
  
She heard the discharge and winced, but the blast never came. She opened her eyes carefully and slowly, to find herself face to face with Weregarurumon.  
  
The Digimon smiled slightly at her, and then slid down to devolve back into a semi-conscious Gabumon.  
  
"G-Gabumon?" She asked in surprise.  
  
"I'm sorry... I... I didn't understand before..." Gabumon slumped into the ground, now unconscious.  
  
"Gabumon! Gabumon!"  
  
Afcaal kicked the immobile figure away and stood sneering at her.  
  
"Hmm. It seems you'll live a few more seconds." He now changed into a deep blue armor.  
  
Gabumon was fighting a loosing battle with reality, but he managed to open his eyes, only to stare helplessly at both Reploids.  
  
"Matt, I failed you again... I promised to take care of her..." Gabumon, fueled by his promise dragged himself towards Afcaal. "No... I... will... not... fail you... again!"  
  
***  
  
Zero sensed something pulsating. As he stood up he looked down at his Digivice. It was glowing.  
  
"True, I will not stay here. I must meet the others. My friends." He said resolutely.  
  
He clasped his Digivice and walked towards the door.  
  
The Digivice glowed stronger.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 3 


	5. Digital Souls 5 Revised

Digital Souls By Wanderer D Chapter 4  
  
Gabumon's eyes glowed as he stood up with renewed energy. "Gabumon Ultra-Digivolve to: Metalgarurumon!"  
  
Afcaal was blinded by the transformation, while Peregrine, somehow unaffected, stared in surprise.  
  
***  
  
The Axe cut cleanly through the last of Noodleman's noodles. With a cry of surprise, Noodleman stepped back as X approached him.  
  
"You are not a Reploid." X stated facing the almost destroyed Maverick.  
  
"Wh- what do you mean?!" Noodleman asked, backing away.  
  
X shrugged, looking at the trapped Noodleman.  
  
Suddenly Noodle Man's eyes glowed red.  
  
"It's true this isn't a Reploid Megaman!" A raspy voice came out of Noodle Man's mouth. "But you're not going to live to tell anyone about it!"  
  
When Noodleman started smoking and glowing, X's eyes grew wide.  
  
"Uh, oh!" X said.  
  
***  
  
Zero was running to the center of the base, where he had agreed to meet the others when the floor started trembling. Kneeling with one hand on the ground to keep his balance he waited a few seconds until it subsided before standing up again.  
  
"I wonder what that was?" he asked aloud.  
  
***  
  
Afcaal lost his footing when the tower trembled, shaking everything. The gigantic armored wolf in front of him stood passively until it ended.  
  
Its eyes glowed slightly as the wolf walked forward at him. The Reploid's armor changed into a soft blue.  
  
"Ice Star!" Afcaal shouted throwing his arm into the air. Fifteen small ice stars shot out of his body and impacted against the ceiling, walls and Metalgarurumon, covering anything in ice.  
  
The Digimon had stood on his hind legs and protected Peregrine with his body.  
  
Metalgarurumon pushed himself away from the wall, shattering the ice.  
  
"You call that cold? I'll show you cold." He growled.  
  
Afcaal gulped and stepped away.  
  
***  
  
Gripping the needle carefully with his teeth, Metalgarurumon slowly extracted the offending dagger from Peregrine's wing. The Female Reploid moaned as it finally slid out of her wing, spilling a little motor fluid.  
  
Metalgarurumon lowered her to the ground carefully and looked her over. She didn't look too good.  
  
Without the helm, she looked nice, according to Metalgarurumon's understanding of beauty in the human species, she was quite attractive.  
  
However, that didn't change the fact that she looked like sh**. Her armor was badly burnt, and her wings could barely stay straight, her X-Buster was also in a bad condition, every now and then he could see small sparks lighting it's interior, and it smelt of burnt circuits.  
  
"Are you okay, Peregrine?" He asked worriedly.  
  
"Of course..." Peregrine smirked despite the pain. "I'm... perfectly... alright..."  
  
Metalgarurumon decided that if she could joke about it she wasn't hurt that badly. Or so he hoped.  
  
"Well, get on my back, we're going to the meeting point." He offered.  
  
Peregrine complied, easing herself up to Metalgarurumon's back.  
  
"Hold on tight!" The Digimon warned as he jumped down the center of the tower to the ground beyond.  
  
***  
  
Zero had waited for a few minutes before hearing metallic steps along one of the many corridors that converged in the center  
  
He hid inside another as Metalgarurumon walked inside. Zero sighed in relief, but then noticed Peregrine hanging limply on his back.  
  
"Peregrine!"  
  
Zero ran to his friend and carried the unconscious girl to the side tunnel. "What happened?"  
  
He started doing a system check on her while Metalgarurumon explained he battle with Afcaal. Zero sighed when his scanners told him that he would survive.  
  
He then noticed that she had brown hair. He hadn't noticed that before, very time they met she had her helmet on, and since it also covered most of her face none of the team had actually seen her face. She was pretty, not cute like Iris, Peregrine looked more mature...  
  
"MATT!"  
  
Zero started and looked up at Metalgarurumon. "Huh?"  
  
"You were just staring at Peregrine! Didn't you hear me? Is she going to be okay?"  
  
Zero blushed as he busied himself activating some nanites and recovery systems on Peregrine. "Uh, yeah, she's cu- she's gonna be ok..."  
  
Metalgarurumon shook his head. "Hey, weren't X and the others supposed to meet us by now?"  
  
Zero nodded as he stood up. He brought his radio up. "X? You there?" he called.  
  
He frowned at the lack of response. "Afro? Lynx?"  
  
"Lynx here! We need help! Afro's..." The transmission was cut suddenly.  
  
"Lynx?" Zero tried again but received no response.  
  
Metalgarurumon walked up to Zero. "What happened?"  
  
"Lynx and Afro are in trouble!" Zero answered.  
  
Metalgarurumon looked at Zero as the latter regarded the unconscious Peregrine.  
  
"We can't leave her here." Zero stated.  
  
"Don... Don't worry about me, Zero..." Peregrine said, opening her eyes.  
  
"Peregrine!" Zero exclaimed, echoed by Metalgarurumon.  
  
Peregrine was breathing heavily, watching them as they approached.  
  
"The nanites worked perfectly, I'll be ok in a few hours... you have to help the others." She insisted.  
  
Zero and Metalgarurumon looked at each other.  
  
"Please, Zero, Metalgarurumon. We have a far more important mission to accomplish. We must stop the Mavericks."  
  
"Are you sure, Peregrine?" Zero asked doubtfully.  
  
She barely nodded. "I'll be able to walk in a few minutes, don't worry about me." Zero stared into her eyes for a few moments, then nodded.  
  
"When X comes here, tell him of our situation." Peregrine only rested her head against the wall. But Zero knew he had been heard. If X, no, *when* X came, he would hear the news.  
  
***  
  
Zero and Metalgarurumon arrived at the first of Afro and Lynx's targets. The area was completely destroyed, but when Zero checked the status of the missile he found it had been deactivated.  
  
"They finished their work here. Let's go to the next one!" he shouted over his shoulder.  
  
They dashed/ran down the tunnels to the other target, and as soon as they entered, they noticed Afroman completely covered in ice.  
  
"Duck!" Zero yelled. He followed his own advice and fell to the ground just as a blue ray shot over his head. Metalgarurumon had also jumped out of the way and turned, firing his own beam.  
  
The dark figure jumped up and forward to avoid the Digimon's breath weapon, finally landing on the light.  
  
"You?! Why?" Zero exclaimed as he regarded Ice Lynx in surprise.  
  
"Because, Zero, I have learnt of the true destiny of Reploids!" Ice Lynx laughed manically and shot again.  
  
"What the hell is he talking about?!" Metalgarurumon asked.  
  
"He must have been transformed! Probably by Sigma! The bastard survived!"  
  
Zero used his sword to block one of Lynx's rays as he answered Metalgarurumon.  
  
"You have some things right, my dear Project Zero, but I must tell you that the Sigma part is wrong!" A raspy voice informed them from a loudspeaker in the corner of the room.  
  
Ice Lynx stopped his attack and stood back a little.  
  
"I must say that you passed the test exceptionally well, Project Zero! Hahaha!"  
  
A large screen rolled down from the ceiling, and, when it reached it's full size, the face of a very old man appeared clearly on it. He was a sorry sight, with hundreds of machines, cables and tubes keeping him alive where his body couldn't.  
  
"YOU!" Zero shouted, as flashes of a younger version of this very same doctor invaded his mind.  
  
"Yes, it is I!" the mad doctor cackled. "Dr. Wily! Your creator!"  
  
"You created nothing but this body! You stole my life, you bastard!"  
  
Wily smirked. "I used a program with human behavior I had found. Nothing more!"  
  
Zero gritted his teeth, as he activated his sword to it's full potential, and started gathering energy. Metalgarurumon could see small lights surrounding him. The lights turned yellow, then green.  
  
"You don't know what you did, you imbecile!" Zero challenged.  
  
Wily frowned. "Too bad I couldn't erase parts of your program, but that doesn't mean that I can't control you!"  
  
He leaned forward and typed something in an unseen console. Suddenly, Zero grasped his head and shouted in pain.  
  
"Matt!" Metalgarurumon shouted as he took a step forward. Ice Lynx intercepted him.  
  
"You were a fool, Zero, to believe that I wouldn't have another way to ensure my victory."  
  
Zero stood up straight and didn't utter a word. Wily smiled evilly. "Ice Lynx. Attack Project Zero."  
  
Time seemed to slow down as Lynx jumped at Zero. Zero turned around, expressionless, still surrounded by energy.  
  
The only thing that Metalgarurumon noticed of the exchange was the hum of Zero's blast. The next thing he knew, Ice Lynx was blown away.  
  
"Excellent!" Wily cackled.  
  
"Zero!" Everyone looked at the entrance, where X was helping Peregrine walk inside.  
  
Zero looked at them, unrecognizing.  
  
Metalgarurumon noticed the change in X's armor. He now sported a stylized samurai-looking helmet, whole body armor with white edges against a deep metallic blue. His boots had also changed, instead of the normal blue boots; he now had metallic blue boots with golden highlights going in three lines.  
  
The booster was also lined up by golden lights and it had also the new deep metallic blue look.  
  
Peregrine also looked in far better condition than he had guessed, it seemed that those nanites -whatever they were- had done a good job.  
  
Metalgarurumon looked from the two new arrivals to Matt and back to them. "Watch out! Wily has taken control of Matt!"  
  
"Zero! Kill that overgrown armored Chihuahua!" Wily ordered glaring at them.  
  
The screen was destroyed by three of Metalgarurumon's missiles, but Wily's voice could still be heard on the speakers.  
  
"And destroy Megaman! You must destroy him and that other Reploid!"  
  
X pushed Peregrine away from him as Zero dashed towards them, the movement was too fast for Peregrine and Metalgarurumon to follow, but X was fast enough to catch Zero with a crash and a screech. Zero activated his boot- thrusters and pushed X to the far side of the room.  
  
X managed to stop Zero's momentum and grabbed his sword arm with his left hand as he struggled to break Zero's hold on his neck with the other.  
  
Screaming, Zero picked up X and threw him against the wall, blowing it up with his blaster and bringing it down on X.  
  
Ignoring the grunts from underneath the twisted metal, he turned around and attacked Peregrine. Metalgarurumon tackled him just as he was about to cut her in half. The two rolled on the ground, Zero trying to get a good shot and the Digimon trying to hold him down long enough to reason with him.  
  
X finally pushed himself out of the rubble just as Zero batted Metalgarurumon away with a backhand and started to stand up.  
  
X's armor changed into yellow as he used his latest power. "Noodle Whip!"  
  
The metallic band with the stupid title enveloped Zero, pinning his arms to his sides and keeping him in the same place as he struggled to get free.  
  
"Peregrine! Go get Wily!" X shouted. "We'll keep Zero occupied!"  
  
Peregrine nodded and ran towards the door. It was obvious she hadn't been completely regenerated by the nanites, and that her wings weren't healed yet.  
  
After she was gone, X couldn't hold Zero much longer and the latter ripped the bands to shreds. X changed back to his armored blue self and began charging his blaster.  
  
"Matt! You have to fight it! Please!" Metalgarurumon bellowed to Zero's back.  
  
X noticed Zero's eyebrow twitch. "Gabumon! Watch out!"  
  
Metalgarurumon was taken completely by surprise by Zero's blast. He flew back with an energy ball spinning against his armored stomach and stopped when he hit the immovable wall.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine logged into the main computer and started looking for a probable place for Wily to be. Finally finding a room with all the appropriate needs for a human to survive, she started down the stairs in the center of the castle.  
  
She eventually found the room she was looking for. A huge double-door prevented the entrance of unwanted visitors.  
  
She stopped to consider for a moment before she began to charge her blaster. After a few seconds she released a blast that would've made X proud. The door shuddered, and after four more blasts she finally broke through.  
  
Stepping through the gapping hole she regarded the sorry creature Dr. Wily had become, forever tied to a huge life-support system.  
  
The mad doctor smiled at her. "So, it has come to this. You know, X never had the courage to kill me the many times we fought."  
  
Peregrine charged her booster and pointed it straight at his head. "Release Zero. Now." She ordered.  
  
Wily laughed. "Zero can't be released! The program that created his personality as you knew it was changed the moment I gave the command! Zero will destroy everyone and everything in this planet."  
  
Peregrine didn't waver, although she was worried. "What would you get out of that?!"  
  
Wily shrugged, making the cables and tubes connected to him waver dangerously. "Nothing. Which is what I have. My only wish now is to kill X. Then I will have fulfilled my vengeance against Dr. Light!"  
  
Wily started laughing like a maniac. "Look! Zero is about to kill those two, he'll then destroy everything!"  
  
Peregrine looked at one of the monitors.  
  
***  
  
X pulled Zero back. He had his friend in a Full Nelson and was slowly managing to move him away from Metalgarurumon.  
  
After being slammed to the wall, Metalgarurumon had been unable to move out of the way as Zero dove into him and began pounding with abandon.  
  
X had tried various times to pry him off, but each time Zero had thrown him, backhanded him and kicked him away. This time however he finally had a hold and was able to avoid further damage to his new friend.  
  
Zero, now concentrated on X, bent forward, lifting X from the ground and jumped against a wall, slamming the other Reploid against it and lessening the hold.  
  
As Zero stepped back, X fired at him getting a full hit on the torso. Zero stepped back a only few steps then grinned madly. Both friends started charging their boosters preparing to fire.  
  
Finally Zero punched twice, sending twin spiraling comets as X fired his own gigantic blast.  
  
"No!"  
  
Metalgarurumon slammed against Zero's side just as X's blast was about to hit him. Zero fell to the ground as Metalgarurumon received X's shot fully.  
  
X, in turn, was also hit by Zero's twin comets of destructive energy. The Reploid went tumbling to stop against the wall.  
  
Zero stood up and threw X to where Metalgarurumon had regressed into Gabumon. Again charging his blasters, Zero prepared to destroy them.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine gasped and grabbed a nearby microphone. "Zero! Don't! They're your friends!" she shouted.  
  
Wily laughed manically.  
  
"Please! Matt!" She tried again.  
  
***  
  
As Zero pulled back his arms to shoot one last blast, the Digivice that still hung from his belt started to shine.  
  
Gabumon opened his eyes weakly. "Matt, I know you won't do it. Because we are friends. And you have the crest of friendship!"  
  
X also coughed and looked up. Zero shoved his fist forward and released his blast.  
  
Gabumon opened his eyes -he didn't remember closing them- and looked behind him. A huge hole loomed behind him. He looked at Zero, who had fallen down on his knees.  
  
Zero looked up and smiled.  
  
"Matt!" Gabumon shouted happily and jumped forward to hug him, ignoring the pain in the ribs for the moment.  
  
***  
  
"No!" Wily bellowed.  
  
Peregrine smirked. "It's your fault, Wily. You have done harm for the last time."  
  
"But, why?! Project Zero was my perfect creation! He was supposed to kill Megaman X!"  
  
"You don't really know, do you?" she asked.  
  
"Know what?!" Wily was angry, but if he knew what was wrong with Project Zero and this stupid Reploid told him, maybe he could...  
  
"You didn't steal a program to create Zero," Peregrine frowned and looked coldly into his eyes. "You murdered a kid and trapped his very being in Zero's body. You cannot control a soul. It has been proven that even the Maverick virus can be fought back by a heart, synthetic or otherwise!"  
  
Wily was silent for a moment, then he started to laugh. Peregrine jumped back in surprise as a clear crystal bauble closed around Wily.  
  
The crazy doctor smirked at her. "Don't think you've won, dear, I'm activating every missile in the base to be shot. And there's nothing you can do about it!"  
  
Peregrine looked in despair at the monitors indicating the various missiles engaging.  
  
Charging her booster she turned around to face Wily just as the alarms went off.  
  
The crazy doctor smiled. "Killing me won't change anything."  
  
"No, but it'll make me feel better." She answered.  
  
"In any case remember that Reploids must follow the three rules of robotics. And you shall not harm a human being."  
  
Peregrine's eyes flashed. "Yes, but victims of the Maverick virus are excluded from those three particular rules. Even surviving it and staying with the good guys doesn't mean that they check my programming to ensure they exist."  
  
Wily's eyes opened wide as Peregrine fired. However, someone had grabbed her blaster hand and moved it, making her miss the shot by centimeters.  
  
Both looked at Wily's rescuer in surprise, until the doctor cackled.  
  
"Shocker! Well done! Now, kill her!" he ordered.  
  
Shocker ignored him, locking stares with Peregrine instead.  
  
"Get out of here, Peregrine." Shocker warned.  
  
"I can't! That idiot just activated the nukes!" She shot back.  
  
Shocker shook his head. "I've got it covered. The missiles won't be shot. The charges are in the deepest bowels in the castle. Now, go back to Zero, X and that Werewolf of yours. I'll take care of Wily."  
  
Peregrine stood a couple of steps back then regarded Shocker. "Why did you stop me? I could have had finished everything right now."  
  
Shocker smiled. "Simple. You've never shot a human in cold blood. And I don't want you to start. Go to him now. I'll follow you."  
  
Peregrine nodded and started walking away, but just as she walked out of the door it sealed shut. Peregrine turned around and began hitting it. "Shocker! Get out! Now!"  
  
On a monitor next to the door, Shocker's face appeared. "Tell Zero I'm sorry. Goodbye my friend. Don't remember me as your enemy. Think of the good old days."  
  
Peregrine slammed her fist against the monitor seconds after it went dark.  
  
"Shocker!" she shouted.  
  
***  
  
Wily was having trouble breathing. It seemed to him that liquid fire burned his lungs every time he tried.  
  
Sparks flew and cables dangled from the ceiling of what used to be his laboratory. That dragon Reploid had burst out shooting lightning bolts all around, and burning itself in the process. He hadn't killed him directly, but there was no way for him to walk out of this one.  
  
And he didn't want to. An overhead speaker announced that only two minutes remained for the launch, but Wily wasn't interested in that.  
  
What had stricken him was the evident pain in the female Reploid's voice as she tried to convince this one to go with her.  
  
The voice from the speakers started the count back to zero.  
  
It seemed that their creations had achieved a state far beyond what he and Light had imagined. Somehow, they had given real life to these beings. A soul.  
  
"Light, old friend... if you could only see them now..." Wily whispered just as the count reached zero.  
  
***  
  
Thirty kilometers away, the door to the Hunter's ship had just been closed and the still frozen Afroman had been shoved into the back of the storage room when they saw the explosion through the front window at the same time everything started to shake violently.  
  
Gabumon shouted and closed his eyes tightly as the brilliant flash hurt his eyes.  
  
"Zero, will the ship survive the Electromagnetic wave?!" X asked worriedly as the ship started shook.  
  
Peregrine did a quick check. "Yes! But we'll have to wait for it to pass before activating anything!"  
  
Gabumon looked up at Matt in confusion. "Electro-what?"  
  
Zero grabbed Gabumon's shoulder with one hand, and slipped the other over Peregrine's shoulders as he braced himself. Peregrine looked in surprise at him, but he only smiled.  
  
"You'll find out what it is just about... now." Unexpectedly, the ship shuddered and sparks flew out of the consoles. It lasted a few seconds before finally dying down along with the flash of light.  
  
Zero let go of Gabumon. And looked over to X. "Let's go home, X."  
  
Gabumon crawled onto a seat and curled up. "Yes... home..." he yawned.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 4 


	6. Digital Souls 6 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 5

Gabumon was escorted to the computer room where his friends were waiting for him. In the weeks after returning, Gabumon had become the Maverick Hunters' official pet. Some Reploids even went to the extent of making a caricature of him and putting it on a few of the ships.

Between that, the disappearance of the last Mavericks, Zero's harmonica and the apparent romance between Zero and Peregrine, and the rumors of Zero's unit going out on an ultra secret mission, the group had had their hands full.

But now, after finally recuperating, and after some research Dr. Cain had done with the Digivice, they had found a way to send the group -minus Afroman who had been transferred after the last battle, and didn't really want to go there- back to the Digiworld.

Dr. Cain had been horrified when he and Peregrine had heard the whole story for the first time, and had agreed to send Matt and Gabumon back to the Digiworld immediately. This had caused Peregrine to grab Zero and kiss him, stopping only to tell him that she would not stay back and let him go without her.

X had also insisted on going with them, causing Dr. Cain to panic. Finally X had told him that he would stay with the Hunters for a few years to ensure the future survival of their world in the case of any Maverick survivors.

But X had also decided that Light's wish for his free choice would have to be maintained too, and that when everything was over and a cure for the Maverick virus discovered, he would follow his heart and go wherever it took him. And he had a feeling that it was also where his true friends were going.

A little calmer, Dr. Cain had apologized for his reaction and acknowledged X's wish for a fresh start, thanking him for staying here with them.

With that over, Dr. Cain had gathered two groups of scientists. One to help him with the Digivice, and the other to design a way for Zero and Peregrine to store their armors so that they would at least look more human, since Dr. Cain had decided that a more human-looking image would help Zero's parents (the idea still boggled him) to accept his new appearance.

The answer seemingly came with an innovative discovery a colleague of Dr. Cain had done a few days before. He was able to create small openings into dimensions with a strong electromagnetic inversed pulse that could be adapted to just changing their clothes for armor or vice versa. He had called it subspace or something like that.

The problem was that his machine weighed several metric tons and was still on development.

Thus, the idea was dropped. And just when everyone was about to give up, X had changed into his Axe Spin uniform to help the gardeners. He had been quickly grabbed and analyzed.

Although the system was complex, -it seemed that only Dr. Wily or Dr. Light had the know-how-, they had managed to enable them to substitute their armors with clothes and back into their armor. The only things that they wouldn't be able to change were their hands, since they were armored 'naturally'.

Now, after weeks of experimenting, they were finally ready to go. The only ones there were Dr. Cain, X, Peregrine, Gabumon and Zero.

"I'm not sure I can send you to the exact moment you left, though." Dr. Cain told Zero. "My calculations are not very exact on that matter."

"I'll take the chance." Zero said, nodding at the good doctor.

"I'll get to you guys as soon as all is over here." X assured them. "Since it won't be much time for you, expect me at any moment!" he added cheerfully.

Zero nodded and clasped X's hand, shaking it firmly. "I know we will see you almost as soon as we get there."

Peregrine hugged X. "We'll be waiting."

Gabumon and X also shared a hug. "Thank you for everything, X. You've been a true friend."

X smiled a little sadly. "You too Gabumon, although we've only known each other for a short time and that I had to pay for that sandwich."

Gabumon chuckled, blushing slightly as he stepped back.

"Ok, Zero, you'll be able to go back by concentrating and touching the computer's monitor. Peregrine hold on to him. You too, Gabumon." Dr. Cain instructed.

They followed instructions, Peregrine holding Zero's hand and Gabumon hers.

"Ready?" Zero asked as he closed his eyes and touched the screen.

With a flash, only X and Cain remained in the room.

"Later, Zero." X whispered to the monitor.

Colors swirled, and in seconds the three were standing in the middle of an old city.

"Well, I think it's time to change into our 'civilian' clothes, Peregrine." Zero said, turning towards her, still holding her hand.

Peregrine took a moment to look around, noting the new, unfamiliar surroundings of the Digiworld. She then nodded and activated the change. Soon, her black armor disappeared, leaving a young teenager girl in jeans, a white shirt, boots, tied ponytail of long lustrous brown hair and her two metallic wings and gauntlets.

Zero had also changed into a pair of jeans, a green shirt not unlike the one he used to use, a ponytail of blonde hair and his metallic gauntlets.

"Too bad about the wings. Otherwise you would've looked just like a beautiful young human girl, instead of a beautiful angel." Zero commented, earning a blush from Peregrine.

"Oh, and one thing, you should call me Matt now. It's my real name, after all." Peregrine nodded.

"Sure, Zer- Matt. How should I be called then?" Peregrine asked.

Matt looked down at Gabumon helpless. The Digimon shrugged. "Why don't you stick with Peregrine? It's your real name, after all."

Peregrine thought for a moment. "Okay, but only until I find a more suitable name for my civvies."

"How about Jessie?" Matt asked.

"You like it?" Peregrine asked back with a smile.

Matt blushed, but nodded.

"Then Jessie it is." Jessie said smiling.

Matt smiled. He turned towards a strange mountain in the distance. It seemed that it was somehow hollow and pieces of it were missing.

"Well Gabumon, you know where T.K. and the others were going?" Matt asked.

Just then they heard explosions nearby. Without sparing so much as a glance at each other Matt, Gabumon and the newly baptized Jessie started running in the general direction of the explosions.

"And I thought this world would be a lot more peaceful!" Jessie commented as they ran.

"It's not normally like this!" Gabumon answered, running on behind her. "This is happening because of the influence of the Dark Masters!"

They ran until a huge skyscraper went down after receiving one of Machinedramon's Giga attacks. The Dark Master was covered by a cloud of debris, and when it had finally settled, he had disappeared.

"Matt, I think I heard screams coming from inside the building!" Gabumon said.

"Yes, I noticed too." Matt said worriedly. They ran up to the remains of the building, noticing a huge hole in the center.

"We have to find a way to get down there." Matt said, facing his two companions.

"I could fly you down, but we'll have to make two trips..." Jessie said.

Matt shook his head. "Fly Gabumon down, I'll jump."

Gabumon looked at Matt worriedly. "Are you crazy? You could kill yourself!"

Matt smiled, jumped up, and just as he was descending dashed up again, then landed smoothly on the ground. "I'll just make an upwards dash every now and then before hitting the ground. Don't worry about me."

Gabumon looked uncomfortable for a moment, but nodded. Jessie slid her arms under his and picked him up easily. She then jumped into the hole, opening her wings and spiraling down slowly. Matt took a running leap and let himself fall down swooshing past his two companions.

As they saw Matt fall down, Jessie noticed Gabumon's discomfort. "Hey, I'm not letting you fall, so relax, Gabumon!"

Gabumon looked up at her. "It's not that. I've just got the feeling that Matt doesn't need me anymore."

Jessie blink blinked. "Why's that?"

"Well, living as Zero made him mature a lot faster and stronger, and now he's much more capable of taking care of himself than I can."

Jessie smiled at Gabumon. "That's not true! Zero, I mean Matt, hasn't been happier in all the time he's been with the Maverick Hunters than when you arrived!"

"Really?"

Jessie nodded. "Yup. Maybe he's stronger now, but few people can boast of having friends like you, and as for protection, Zero can't fight everything alone. That's what you and me are here for, champ!"

"Matt, not Zero." Gabumon corrected, smiling back.

"Matt." She acknowledged.

They finally made it down to where Matt was waiting for them, standing next to a river.

"I've checked around here, and I didn't find anything. I think they fell into the water and were dragged away by the current."

"Well, then we'll just walk along the side it until we find them." Jessie reasoned.

Matt nodded and the three started walking.

They walked for a few hours, they had heard distant machines, but they had stuck to the water since they thought it would be easier to find the others that way. Suddenly they heard a loud explosion and shouts. Running to the origin of the newest event, they found Andromon trying to stand up again next to a hole in the wall.

"Andromon!" Matt and Gabumon yelled in stereo. They ran up to him to help him stand as Jessie took a look at one of Zero's friends.

Andromon looked a lot like a very tall human or Reploid, heavily armored in a gray metal. A skull-like helm covered his head and face, leaving his lower jaw uncovered. She noticed an over developed canine sticking out of his mouth. He looked like something out of Wily's imagination, in her opinion.

"Matt?" Andromon asked holding a hand to his head. He was obviously in a bad condition. "You have to help the other Digidestined! They are inside with Machinedramon!"

Matt nodded. "Will you be okay?"

"Yes. Go help them; I'll get to you as soon as I get my bearings back."

Matt motioned to Jessie and Gabumon to follow him as he jumped into the hole.

As soon as he was out he saw Machinedramon blowing a group of numemon into digidust, Kari, T.K., Izzi, Tai and Sora were standing protectively over their Digimon as the metallic tyrannosaur took a step towards them.

Things were not looking good for the Digidestined. Their Digivolved friends had been no match for Machinedramon, who had just batted them away as if they were nothing. To make matters worse, the numemon had tried to save Kari and had attacked the Dark Master only to be wiped out without a second thought.

Now, Machinedramon was about to crush them.

Just as the gigantic Dark Master was about to take another step, something slammed to his side. The evil Digimon flew to the other side of the room and crashed against the wall.

"You leave my brother and friends alone, you bastard!" Matt shouted.

Tai and the others stared in awe at Matt as he shook a gauntleted fist at the recuperating Machinedramon.

"Another Digidestined. My work has been only made easier." Machinedramon commented as he stood to his full height, towering above everyone in the room.

"Brother!" T.K. shouted standing up.

"T.K.! Stay there! Tai, Izzi, Sora! Grab him!" Matt ordered.

Realizing that Matt wasn't kidding they grabbed T.K., who struggled to get free.

"Calm down, T.K.! Matt must have a plan!" Tai said. This calmed down T.K. a little.

"Gabumon, Jessie!" Matt called.

Jessie ran up to Matt, ignoring the surprised stares of the kids and their Digimon at her metallic wings. Gabumon stopped next to them.

"We'll have to take down Machinedramon before he tries his Giga Cannon." Both his friends nodded, as they did a semi circle around Machinedramon.

Matt took his Digivice out and pointed it at Gabumon. "Metalgarurumon!" Gabumon was surrounded in a white light as he Digivolved.

"Gabumon Digivolve..." the Digimon shouted, and then his voice was replaced by the menacing baritone of "Metalgarurumon!"

Tai and the others were very surprised. It was the first time they had seen Gabumon transform like that without extreme emotional buildup. "Wow!" was all that Sora could say.

Machinedramon was now in the middle of the three fighters, just as he tried a sweep at Jessie, Metalgarurumon tackled him from behind, sending him flying towards Matt.

The Digidestined cried in dismay as their friend was about to be crushed by the gigantic Digimon.

But Matt moved incredibly fast towards the monster and did an uppercut, sending the Dark Master into the air. Jessie jumped into the air too, and flying over her enemy she kicked him to the ground, where the impact created a large crater.

The others couldn't believe their eyes; those had been less than five seconds. Just as they were about to cheer Machinedramon let out a roar and fired his Giga Blast at Metalgarurumon, who took it fully.

Matt, Jessie and the present Digidestined ran towards their fallen comrade as Machinedramon came out of his crater.

Metalgarurumon devolved back to Gabumon. "I'm sorry Matt, I have no energy left. I used it up to survive that Giga Blast."

"It's okay, my friend. I should've imagined that the Dark Masters would be a little tougher than our other enemies. Peregrine and I will take care of this."

Gabumon smiled. "Good luck then, Zero." he managed to say before losing consciousness.

The kids looked from Gabumon back to Matt not understanding a word. Matt looked up at Jessie and nodded, standing up.

"Looks like it's time to Digivolve, Jessie." Matt smiled sadly at T.K.

Jessie nodded. "Right on, boyfriend."

The two jumped away from the Digidestined and to both sides of Machinedramon, who had to look at them instead of the Digidestined, since he had sensed them a greater threat.

"Did she say 'boyfriend'?" Sora asked a bewildered Biyomon.

Matt smiled at Jessie as he raised his arm into the air. "Matt Digivolve into... Zero!"

Gatomon developed a sweat-drop. "Just what does he think he's he doing? Humans can't Digiv..." she stopped when a white energy ran through Matt's body leaving a red armor behind its wake.

"Jessie Digivolve into... Black Peregrine!" Jessie said, following Matt's lead and raising her right arm.

Everyone stared in surprise as she was also surrounded by the white energy. She was covered by her black armor and her right hand replaced by her blaster. She breathed in relief. She liked her armor better than her 'civilian' clothes.

"Or none at all," she thought to herself glancing at Zero.

The Digidestined looked at their Digimon in surprise. Everyone was shocked. They couldn't believe what was happening.

For that matter, neither could Machinedramon. His scanners were going wild as they analyzed his enemies. They didn't have as much power individually as he or Piedmon did, but together...

Zero flashed out his sword. "I did warn you against harming my friends!"

Peregrine started gathering energy until her body glowed with contained power.

Sensing the attack, Machinedramon turned around and pointed his arm gun at her.

"I don't think so!" Zero shouted as he jumped and dashed past the Dark Master, his sword flashing.

Machinedramon could only stare as his gun slid into two parts, cut clean by Zero's sword.

Peregrine shot the monster with her charged blaster, slamming him against another wall in the room. The blast had dragged Machinedramon across the room lifting a heavy cloud of dust.

Kari's tag suddenly started glowing. Zero and Peregrine felt themselves refreshed suddenly, as did Gatomon, Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, Biyomon and the returning Andromon.

Tai looked at his Digimon. "Agumon! Digivolve!"

"Right!" Agumon nodded. "Agumon Digivolve... War Greymon!" Peregrine witnessed yet another Digivolution as the small velociraptor-like creature transformed into an armored reptile man. A metal helm covered its head, and he had some sort of leather armor covering his chest. Metallic boots covered his feet and he had some sort of spiked gauntlets that reached from his forearm to his knees, giving him a longer reach in combat.

War Greymon opened the shield on his back and flew into the dust cloud. Everyone heard a few grinding noises and as the dust cleared they were able to see War Greymon standing in front of Machinedramon.

As they looked in surprise, Machinedramon slid in half for a moment, and then turned into digidust.

War Greymon devolved into Agumon seconds later, dropping exhausted to the ground.

Two groups stood facing each other. To the right, stood a young man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail, red metallic gauntlets, blue jeans, and a green shirt.

Standing next to him, a girl with black metallic wings and gauntlets, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and boots. She had brown hair also tied in a ponytail.

Standing slightly in front of them was a strange creature that looked like a small yellow dinosaur covered with a wolf pelt.

The other group was composed of five kids, and five strange creatures. The first with unruly brown hair held back by a pair of goggles. He had a blue shirt, shorts and white gloves.

Standing next to him was a small red velociraptor like creature. To their right stood a girl with a pink T-shirt, a blue bicycle cap, and blue jeans, next to her stood a pink bird with a bracelet on its left leg.

The second boy had his hair cut short, and was carrying a backpack with a laptop inside. A Ladybug-like creature stood on it's two legs next to him.

In front of them stood two younger kids, a boy in a green shirt, pants a cap, a small flying creature that looked like a hamster with wings and a girl in a pink dress with a white cat-like creature that stood on its hind legs.

"Well, Matt..." The boy with the goggles started. "It's good to have you back!" Tai finished smiling. He walked up to Matt and shook his hand, noting the metallic gauntlet.

"Brother!" The little kid shouted jumping onto Matt's arms. Matt hugged his younger brother carefully.

"Hello T.K.! How've you been?" He asked holding him at arms length but still keeping him on eye level.

"Great! We managed to beat Puppetmon!" T.K. shouted happily.

Matt nodded, still smiling, he looked at his partner. "Jessie, this is T.K., my younger brother."

Jessie smiled. "Hello, T.K.!" Matt let T.K. go as he was greeted by Sora, Kari, Agumon, Gatomon and Biyomon with another hug. Patamon flied above them in circles, happy for his friends.

"We were worried about you!" Sora said, stifling a tear. Matt patted her back reassuringly.

"Hey, I'm alright!" Matt assured her.

Meanwhile T.K. was apparently assessing Jessie to see if she was good enough for his brother. Thinking this, she tried to stifle a smile.

Finally stopping before her, he crossed his arms, pretending to be serious. "Are you really Matt's girlfriend?" He asked her.

Jessie nodded smiling at him. T.K. smiled back and hugged her. "Are you gonna get married?" He asked looking at her straight in the eye.

"Wha-" She stammered.

Sora looked smugly at Matt as he turned beet red.

"T.K.!" Matt whispered harshly.

"Oh, hit a spot there, Matt?" Sora asked poking him in the chest.

"N-no..." he answered, still red.

"I think we should continue up Spiral Mountain and fight Piedmon." Andromon interrupted them.

Tai looked at the big android in feigned disgust. "You're no fun, Andromon!"

Andromon blinked at him and Tai shook his head. "Forget it, Andromon."

He turned and looked at the group. "Well, we have to go, guys."

Everyone nodded and Biyomon Digivolved at Sora's request.

Jessie watched mesmerized Sora's Digimon evolve.

The small pink bird was surrounded by light and it started growing as it was surrounded by fire, like a phoenix... only... with fangs?

As soon as Biyomon had finished her conversion into the gigantic Birdramon the kids and smaller Digimon got on her.

Birdramon tried to pick up Matt, but had to give up after a second try.

"I'm sorry Matt!" The big bird said after a moment. "You weigh as much as Andromon!"

Everyone stared at Matt.

"It's okay!" Jessie said, stepping forward. "I'll fly the two of us up."

"Are you sure you can?" Birdramon asked.

Matt slipped his arm around Jessie's waist, passing his other arm on her back and grabbing her shoulder. They stared at each other for a moment, before Jessie answered.

"Uh... yeah, no prob." She said, not taking her eyes off his.

To make her point she jumped up and started beating her wings slowly. To Birdramon's surprise she could handle Matt's weight without a problem.

Shrugging it off, the Digimon also lifted up along with Andromon, who used a jet pack on his back to shoot up alongside them.

Tentomon also Digivolved into a giant humanoid-insect with horns and wings. "Kabuterimon!"

Izzi straddled Kabuterimon's back.

"Let's go guys!" Izzi shouted.

"This is going to be a long flight." Matt muttered looking up at Spiral Mountain.

"I'm not complaining..." Jessie said to his ear.

Matt became as red as his armor.

"Hey you guys! Get a room!" Tai shouted from Birdramon's back.

"TAI! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Matt swore, unable to face him.

Tai leaned back, smiled at Sora and ignored Matt's rants.

They had been flying up for ten minutes already, and by now Sora was bored out of her mind. Tai had fallen asleep between Gabumon and Agumon, but she had many things troubling her, like Matt and his girlfriend's Digivolution.

"Hey, Matt!" She called.

Jessie shared a look with Matt and approached the giant bird.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You never explained how you Digivolved. Is that a new power we're going to get along the way?"

Gabumon opened his eye a slit and watched and heard silently.

"Uh," Matt looked nervously at T.K., who was looking at him with interest. "No, it's... it's the gauntlets! They let me Digivolve..."

"Cool!" T.K. exclaimed. "Can I borrow them and see what I Digivolve into?"

"Uh, sorry, T.K., but I can't take these off." Matt answered.

Sora noticed that Jessie was looking at Matt with a hurt expression, and then the Reploid turned and looked in another direction, pressing her lips together.

"There's more to those metallic gauntlets than meets the eye." Sora thought to herself.

A few minutes later they had reached the top of Spiral Mountain, and everyone was dead tired. They decided to stop for a few hours before continuing to Piedmon's hideout.

"I'll make first watch," Matt told them. "You guys go ahead and rest."

He then walked away from the group, followed by Gabumon and sat on a dune overlooking the area.

As they rested, Sora noticed Jessie walking towards Matt. Making sure the others were asleep or occupied, she got up and followed her, finally hiding behind one of the rocks near them.

"Zero..." Jessie started.

"Matt." Gabumon corrected.

Matt sighed exasperated. "Does it matter?" He grabbed a rock and threw it into the distance. So far that neither Gabumon nor Sora could see where it had fallen.

"I've been Matt for eleven years. And I've lived as Zero for almost six years. Not counting the thirty I spent in cryostasis. Now, I'm back, and I don't know if I can be T.K.'s brother again."

Jessie looked at him. "Are you ashamed of what we are, Zero? Is that the problem?"

Matt sighed. "No... I don't know. It's always been easy, you know." He looked up into the sky. "Back at HQ I just received orders; 'Zero, there's a group of Mavericks on the loose! Take your unit and take care of them!' It was just so simple. I just reacted. Now, I'm starting to feel again what I felt when I was with my little brother.

Jessie looked down. "What?"

"Helplessness." Matt said. "Before I left the group I couldn't believe that T.K. could take care of himself and that he didn't need me anymore. Now I'm back and I find that he needs me in other ways, but I never thought what to tell him when he discovered I wasn't the same."

Jessie hugged Matt's shoulders. "He'll have to face it, like Gabumon did."

Gabumon nodded solemnly.

"Yes, but is he ready? What will he say when he finds out his big brother isn't even human anymore?"

"He'll say that being human, Digimon or whatever you were doesn't mean anything as long as you are yourself, Matt." Sora said, stepping from behind the boulder.

"Sora?" Matt asked in surprise, jumping to his feet and taking a couple of steps back.

Sora nodded. "When were you going to tell us, Matt? Or is it Zero?"

"Both," Matt answered. "I'm Matt, the Digidestined wearing the tag of friendship; but I also happen to be Zero, Maverick Hunter."

"Listen, Matt. Maybe you shouldn't tell T.K. just yet, but be sure to tell him when this is all over. And also tell the others and me the whole story. We are your friends, and deserve to know if you're okay."

Sora turned away and started walking back to the others. "Remember, Matt; we've been together through thick and thin. I don't know what a Maverick Hunter is, but I know you'll tell us when the time is right."

"Sora..." Matt whispered, as he looked at her retreating figure.

"It's my turn," Tai offered standing next to Matt. "It's time for you to rest for a while."

"I'm not tired." Matt answered after a moment.

"Come on, Matt!" His friend insisted. "You've been awake most of the time. I slept on the flight. Come on, rest."

Matt finally nodded and went back to camp. After gazing at the sky for a few minutes, he slowly fell asleep.

End Chapter 5


	7. Digital Souls 7 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 6  
  
"Matt! Matt!" Called a familiar female voice, but try as he might, the Maverick Hunter could not remember who she might be.  
  
Zero opened his eyes to find he was in the middle of a forest. It seemed to be day time but he couldn't see the sun. Shrugging, he started looking around for some clue as to how he got there.  
  
"Matt! Matt!" the female voice continued, growing more urgent.  
  
Zero turned around trying to identify the origin of the voice. It seemed to come from everywhere, although he was sure it was because of an echo.  
  
"Matt! Come back!" the voice insisted.  
  
This time he was able to deduce the point of origin of the voice. It came from his left. Turning, he could now see a small trail.  
  
Walking down the discovered trail, he was now able to hear another sound; the familiar sound of blasters and explosions. Zero started running towards the sounds, only to stop suddenly in front of a mirror that had materialized on his way.  
  
He stared at his own reflection for a moment. He wasn't wearing his normal red armor; instead, he was using the, stronger black version he had used against Repliforce.  
  
Shaking his head, he tried to find the sounds or the voice again, but he couldn't. Wondering what a mirror was doing in the middle of the forest he walked around it, stopping once again facing his reflection.  
  
The mirror glowed, and his reflection was replaced by an image of himself instructing X not to get involved in the fight against the Mavericks.  
  
Why was he doing that? Oh, yes, X wasn't designed to fight. But then why did leaving him behind seem wrong? Staring at the image, he noted the crystal in his helm shining with a white 'W' inside it.  
  
Suddenly the image was replaced by X about to be finished by Vile. Zero saw himself blow off Vile's Vehicle's arm, but when he knelt besides X, he changed into a young boy of about ten to twelve years old.  
  
The boy helped X to his feet, then was replaced by Zero again as he berated the Reploid on his interference.  
  
***  
  
"Zero... promise me!" It was the voice of a young boy, familiar, but the Digidestined couldn't put a face to it. Or a name.  
  
Matt ran down the metal corridor, gradually getting closer to the origin of the plea.  
  
"If I go Maverick, you have to stop me!" The voice pleaded.  
  
Matt slid to a stop in front of a large door.  
  
"Can I count on you, Zero?" the voice asked.  
  
Matt grabbed the side of the door and pulled, opening it just a little. The voice was coming from the inside.  
  
Pulling the door completely open, he stepped into a gigantic room with a lake in the center. Matt looked around the place, but was unable to find anyone or anything.  
  
Sitting down next to the lake, he looked into the waters. He was greeted by his own image. Suddenly, the surface of the water blurred and he found himself looking at the camp where it had all started.  
  
He watched his brother, T.K. run around happily. He saw himself smiling, but when it started to snow, he was replaced by an armored robot-like teenager with long blonde hair. He looked familiar, and Matt sensed that he should know who it was.  
  
The robot picked T.K. up, much as he had done and carried him into the small house with the others.  
  
Matt found himself a little saddened at the lack of trust the robot was showing T.K., but he knew his little brother wasn't capable of taking care of himself at that moment as he could now.  
  
Then he saw that same robot marching towards Myotismon's last evolution, walking alongside Tai.  
  
The robot then changed into Matt when he grabbed Tai's hand, placing his faith in his brother and Kari and Tai. It was Matt the arrow from Angemon struck, not the robot.  
  
Then he turned back into the robot again when he had turned to stare at his mother.  
  
"Zero..." The same voice he had heard repeated, and Matt jumped up, still staring at the lake, which had started shifting again.  
  
"Matt..." Said the girl's voice again, and Zero took a step back as the mirror glowed yet again.  
  
Suddenly they were bombarded with images.  
  
Matt saw himself playing the harmonica for Gabumon. Zero saw himself telling X again to wait while he took care of things.  
  
Matt saw the robot, instead of him, pushing Tai away from Gabumon forcefully, knowing that Tai wasn't talking seriously when he asked Gabumon for his pelt.  
  
Zero saw the young boy, not him, jumping on the back of Vile's war machine and blowing up, knowing that X wouldn't survive against those odds.  
  
Various memories and images played themselves in front of Matt and Zero, sometimes replacing Zero with the young boy, sometimes replacing Matt with the Reploid. The memories rushed, faster and faster, until, finally they stopped.  
  
Zero stood in front of the mirror, now noticing the tag that hung from his neck, bearing the symbol of friendship.  
  
Matt kneeled down, looking into the lake, his hand gripping the handle of the energy sword harder until his knuckles were white.  
  
Matt now saw the robot. "No," he thought. "Reploid." looking at him.  
  
Zero extended his hand towards the mirror that showed the young boy, noticing that the reflection of the mirror emulated his action.  
  
Matt touched the surface of the water at the same moment Zero touched the mirror.  
  
Everything turned white, and they found themselves standing side by side in front of the rotating symbol of Friendship, that had somehow grown to their size.  
  
"The only thing that marked you as being yourself when you were lost was the value you gave to your friends and family." Intoned the female voice.  
  
"You fought your way towards that value, and thus survived." Added the childish voice.  
  
"No one else could've fought the same battle you fought, and no one else would have made it this far and gotten such a prize." Said both voices in unison.  
  
The symbol of friendship floated up, and below it Matt and Zero could see the forms of various people.  
  
There was Tai standing next to Agumon, Izzi and Tentomon, Sora and Biyomon, Mimi and Palmon, Joe and Gomamon, T.K. and Patamon, Kari and Gatomon, Peregrine and Gabumon, Dr. Cain and X, Iris and Colonel, Magma Dragoon and Shocker. Leomon, Andromon and Afroman were there too, along with a number of other Digimon and Reploids. Everyone bathed in the light of the symbol of Friendship.  
  
"No one else." Repeated both voices.  
  
Matt and Zero looked at each other in surprise, before smiling and shaking hands. They were bathed in warm light as everything faded from view into whiteness.  
  
***  
  
Matt opened his eyes as T.K. was backing away a little to give him space to sit up.  
  
"Are you okay, Matt? You were tossing and turning." His brother asked.  
  
Matt rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay now, T.K., I was just dreaming."  
  
"Really? About what?"  
  
Matt smiled at his brother. "Nothing interesting, T.K."  
  
"Matt?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Are you going to tell me where you went? Gabumon found you pretty fast, but you somehow got your hair longer, and you also look taller."  
  
"Well, T.K., I went to a world where everyone fought, and I had to fight too for a while. I met Pereg- Jessie there and another friend I'm hoping you to meet. His name is X."  
  
"What kind of a name's X?" Asked Patamon perching on T.K.'s shoulder.  
  
"Well, it's not his fault Dr. Light called him like that." Jessie muttered.  
  
"And this friend of yours fought too?" Asked Izzi sitting next to them, followed by Tentomon.  
  
Matt nodded. "Yup. X's probably the most powerful Reploid to ever walk the Earth.  
  
"Reploid?" Kari asked also joining the conversation along with Gatomon.  
  
"Yeah!" Gabumon commented. "Reploid are like robots, but able to feel and touch and cry..."  
  
Izzi looked very interested by now. "But, that shouldn't happen, robots are machines. They can't feel."  
  
Gabumon shook his head. "I couldn't understand it at first, but you should think of them as real people, only made of circuits and metal."  
  
"Right." Izzi deadpanned.  
  
"But I know for a fact that they feel! Just like-" Gabumon was interrupted when Matt grabbed him, sweating a little.  
  
"Now, now, Gabumon, we don't want to bore them out of their minds. With small details, right?" He asked, grinning foolishly at the others.  
  
Gabumon pulled Matt's hand from over his muzzle. "But, what about Sigma, the Dragoons, Dr. Cain, Spray Rat..." Matt closed Gabumon's muzzle with his hand.  
  
"Uh, no. We should concentrate on Piedmon; there will be time for stories later, right, Jessie?" Matt insisted.  
  
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Sure."  
  
Sora was suddenly standing next to Jessie. "So tell me, Jessie, how long have you and Matt been dating?"  
  
"Well, um, about a week or so..."  
  
"A WEEK?!"  
  
Sora jumped in front of Matt, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.  
  
"How could you not tell us you had a girlfriend all this time?!" She demanded.  
  
"Well..." Matt said, shifting from foot to foot.  
  
At that moment Tai came running from his watch, followed by Agumon. They both looked a little worried.  
  
"Guys! I've just seen an enemy coming this way! It's Ladydevimon!"  
  
"A what?" Jessie asked.  
  
"A female version of Devimon!" Gabumon informed her. She blink blinked, still in the dark.  
  
Tai turned around. "Listen, I have a feeling that we'll need all the Digidestined here for the battle with Piedmon, Sora, you and Izzi take Birdramon and Kabuterimon and find Mimi and Joe."  
  
"But, you'll need us here!" Izzi argued.  
  
Matt placed his hand on Izzi's shoulder. "Go find them, we'll help here. I also have the feeling that all of us should be together."  
  
Just then Ladydevimon stopped over their heads hovering. "Digidestined! I will kill you by the order of Piedmon!"  
  
Jessie braced herself for battle, analyzing her enemy. She looked like a 20- 30 year old woman in very good condition. She was dressed in what looked like leather and it covered her completely except for the chin and mouth, it also covered what seemed to be two long horns that sprouted from Ladydevimon's head.  
  
"Gatomon Digivolve!" Kari told her Digimon. Gatomon nodded.  
  
"Gatomon Digivolve..." The cat-like Digimon was surrounded by white light as its body elongated and grew. "Angewomon!"  
  
When the light faded, where Gatomon had once stood now was a female angel with a helm that covered her eyes.  
  
Where Ladydevimon was a seductress surrounded by evil, Angewomon was refined and emitting dignity. And also cold anger.  
  
Jessie sensed that this battle would be in the hands of Angewomon. She had seen the looks shared by those two and she wouldn't want to be caught in the crossfire.  
  
***  
  
The huge, muscled, battle-scarred and feral-looking were-lion that was Leomon dared take a peek outside from inside the ruined house where he was hiding.  
  
He had found Joe and Mimi, along with Gomamon and Palmon helping Ogremon out and had saved the group from Puppetmon's and Metal Etemon's battle.  
  
Then, he had brought them all to the deserted town, where he had told them his story and the resent events. They had seen the forest part of Spiral Mountain disappearing and had guessed at Puppetmon's demise at the hands of the other Digidestined.  
  
It had been a couple of hours since then, and nothing had happened in that time. Suddenly, he noticed something, or rather someone walking into the small town.  
  
It was a young human boy, with blue hair and blue metallic gauntlets, he was wearing a yellow T-shirt and blue Jeans.  
  
He was walking around the town, looking around as if he was searching for something... or someone.  
  
Frowning, Leomon hurried into the house where Mimi, Joe, Gomamon, Palmon and Ogremon were.  
  
Leomon looked at Ogremon in disgust before telling them anything. His rivalry with the green smelly creature that looked like a mixture of a boar, human and oni had been a long one, getting worse when Devimon had controlled them both.  
  
But this was not the time to dwell on the past.  
  
"There's another human boy out there." He informed them.  
  
"Really? Who is it?" Mimi asked.  
  
Leomon shook his head. "I don't know, he's not one of the group you were in when we met."  
  
"But, I thought we were the only humans here. He was human, right?" Joe asked Leomon, as he stood up.  
  
Leomon nodded. "He was no Digimon."  
  
"With Metal Etemon looking for us he might be in trouble!" Mimi exclaimed a little worried.  
  
Ogremon stood up. "Then we must warn him, or at least find out what he's doing here."  
  
"Right!" Mimi said.  
  
***  
  
X looked at his radar yet again. The red dot was in this town, no doubt, but Dr. Cain's radar could only detect the general area where Zero's Digivice would be. Unbeknownst to him, Dr. Cain had sent him a full day before Zero, Gabumon and Peregrine's arrival to the Digital World.  
  
He had followed the red dot in the radar into this deserted town, hoping to see his friends after 5 years. His motion detectors informed him that a small group was approaching.  
  
He had found no hostiles so far in this world, but he remembered Zero's and Gabumon's warnings, so he became attentive to anything out of the norm.  
  
The first one to approach him looked a little like Slash Beast. But, unlike the late Maverick, this were-lion carried his power with more dignity.  
  
Behind him stood two kids whom he didn't recognize. One was a girl with long golden-brown hair in a western style dress and with a pink cowboy hat.  
  
A little taller than her, a scrawny-looking boy with blue hair cut short, thick glasses, a white sweater and shorts stood nervously next to the two Digimon that seemed ready to protect them. One looked like the sapling of a palm tree with a red flower on it's head and bug-like eyes. The other looked like the cross of a seal and a dog. White with purple stripes.  
  
He noticed that both kids had Digivices and sighed. Almost.  
  
"Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see Zero, Peregrine and Gabumon pass by, have you?"  
  
Everyone stopped short at his mention of Gabumon. "You know Gabumon?!" The seal asked.  
  
X nodded as he remembered his friend's descriptions from long ago. "Yes, and you wouldn't be Gomamon, Palmon, Mimi and Joe?"  
  
This surprised everyone even more.  
  
"Have we met?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses up a little to take a better look at him.  
  
X shook his head. "No, but Zero and Gabumon told me about you."  
  
"Who's Zero?" Palmon asked.  
  
"Uh, yeah, that's right! You guys know him as Matt." X reasoned.  
  
"Who are you?" Gomamon asked. "We didn't meet you on Earth and you couldn't have got our stories from Matt knowing him only for a few minutes before losing him."  
  
"Well, I can say that I've known Matt for a few years..." X started.  
  
Just then an explosion rocked the ground where they were standing, and Metal Etemon waltzed into the town.  
  
X saw a silver monkey in a full body pajama standing there with a microphone in his hand.  
  
Metal Etemon gathered energy in his hands and sent a green ball at Mimi and the others.  
  
In a flash X was in front of them as his internal systems analyzed the green ball. Pulling out his antiviral-laser sword he batted it away.  
  
"Hey why did you do that, twerp?!" Metal Etemon raged as the others stared at him.  
  
"The friends of Zero are my friends." X stated as his armor started appearing instead of his clothes. "And I don't think you are one of them."  
  
When his transformation finished, X stood in a defensive position. He now sported a stylized samurai-looking helmet, whole body armor with white edges against a deep metallic blue. His boots had also changed, instead of the normal blue boots; he now had metallic blue boots with golden highlights going in three lines.  
  
Joe and the others continued to stare at X while Mimi's eyes became small stars. "What a hunk!" She whispered. Palmon heard her, however, and elbowed her. "This is not the time for this!"  
  
Metal Etemon considered this new development, but he was sure that, since he was the most powerful being in the world, he wouldn't have any problems with them.  
  
"Now I'll show you a trick Zero taught me!" X shouted as he jumped and landed just in front of Etemon.  
  
"Raijingeki!" X shouted shoving his sword forward. Etemon was subjected to hundreds of Watts cursing through his body.  
  
"Shippuuga!" The Reploid dashed towards Etemon slashing at the same time with his sword, and cutting a gash in the monkey's suit.  
  
"Kuuenbu!" Immediately after the slash, X jumped into the air, spinning with his sword cutting at Etemon.  
  
"Hyouretsuzan!" X stopped in mid spin and turned his sword into a spike made of ice of about his same height. He descended stabbing Metal Etemon with it.  
  
The monkey was frozen in place just as he was starting to register pain.  
  
"Ryuenjin!" Said X the moment he landed, doing an uppercut slash with his sword, which was surrounded by fire. The ice covering the monkey shattered and he was surrounded by flames.  
  
Metal Etemon was about to shout in agony when X landed and slashed down once, twice and finally slashed again diagonally.  
  
Etemon stared incredously at X before becoming digidust.  
  
X sighed, putting his sword away as his armor turned into clothes. He turned around to face the Digidestined and their friends.  
  
"Well, not as good as Matt, but I think I've got the hang of it." He said self critically.  
  
Joe fainted.  
  
***  
  
The group was gathered around a small fire, surrounded by one of the many forests that covered the Digiworld.  
  
They had decided to go to Primary Village which Ogremon had mentioned was in a bad state. They had been joined by Gekomon a small creature that looked terribly underfed and also looked like a frog with a hornet twisted around his neck, and Otamamon, who looked like a Tadpole.  
  
"So, X, you said that Matt taught you those attacks?!" Mimi asked incredously.  
  
Leomon had been very impressed by X's prowess, but also found it difficult to believe that Matt would've been able to do that. Much less teach it.  
  
X blink-blinked. "Yeah, I mean, I know Matt could have taught me better, but he, Peregrine and Gabumon wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible and get here." He said.  
  
"But that's impossible! Matt never fought good enough to be able to teach someone something like that! At the most he traded punches with Tai!" Joe argued.  
  
"Well, since he came to my world, the two of us got into a lot of fights. I think Matt told Gabumon that the Mavericks we had to fight were like Mega level Digimon... but if that Metal Etemon was a Mega level Digimon, I have to say that Matt alone has fought worse."  
  
Joe's eyes rolled and he fainted again. "Joe!" Gomamon muttered putting one of his fins to his head. "You've got to be kidding."  
  
The others however were looking at X in disbelief.  
  
"Like who?" Ogremon asked.  
  
"Well, Sigma, of course, Vile, Magma Dragoon, Colonel, Repliforce's General, me..." X looked thoughtful for a moment. "Although Sigma was the hardest. He kept upgrading himself and one we had to attack him both at the same time to defeat him."  
  
This was a little too much for Mimi, who also fainted.  
  
Palmon ran up to her and shook her awake. "Mimi!"  
  
"Oh, Palmon, I had this dream... I dreamt that Matt had been fighting Mega Level Digimon bare handed and winning..."  
  
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, he wasn't bare handed and they weren't Digimon. That was just a comparison." X provided.  
  
"It wasn't a dream?!" Mimi shouted panicking.  
  
"Um... no?" Palmon informed her friend.  
  
"It's impossible!" Mimi cried out.  
  
Immediately Gekomon and Otamamon were at her side. "Is there anything you need, your majesty?"  
  
"Don't call me MAJESTY!" Mimi shouted.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 6 


	8. Digital Souls 8 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 7  
  
The next day they were on their way once more. X was going with them, since he was more likely to find Matt by sticking to his friends.  
  
Leomon and X had been a hit so far. As soon as X revealed his involvement in more than one battle for the sake of justice, Leomon had talked to him nonstop, comparing notes and giving each other opinions and suggestions.  
  
They had been going at it like two old campaigners who hadn't seen each other for 4 wars and now had to trade their mutual experiences.  
  
The worst part was that X insisted on including Matt in most of those adventures and what he said was incredible. If that was true, Matt had changed a lot and was not the same good-natured-if-solitary friend they all loved, but a warrior who would kill his enemy without a second thought.  
  
The thought scared Mimi like nothing else. She and Joe had left the others because she didn't want to fight anymore. Not that it had helped, since she had realized that she would have to do it at least one more time before peace finally came.  
  
So now, she was going to gather the greatest amount of Digimon who would be willing to fight against the Dark Masters.  
  
And she had a good start. So far she had two of the greatest warriors; Ogremon and Leomon, then there were Palmon and Gomamon of course, and Gekomon and Otamamon would be of some help, she guessed. She was sure she would find Digimon willing to help at Primary Village or it's surroundings. Then there was X.  
  
She was actually very confused by X. He was obviously a warrior; he took care Metal Etemon in a very effective way -Ogremon had told her that he wouldn't want to fight X- and had shrugged off the death of his opponent almost casually.  
  
Almost. That was what had her confused. X seemed to have fought dozens of battles, fighting to survive every inch of the way, but still, he was... so different from what he should be. There was a constant sadness around X, she could feel it. It felt as if he considered his own existence a paradox of some kind.  
  
Mimi had been called many things all her life, even by Tai and the others. Many considered her to be an insensible brat that would give in to tantrums. Even T.K. thought of her that way.  
  
But the truth was that she felt too much, and she didn't know how to deal with that empathy she had. Therefore, she stuck herself into a shell that fooled everyone. Except Palmon.  
  
The problem was that her empathy was going crazy with X, something in him called to her and made her want to hold him in a hug and tell him that everything was all right, that he hadn't done anything wrong.  
  
"Are you okay, Mimi?" Her faithful friend, Palmon, asked.  
  
"Yes. It's just..."  
  
"What?" Palmon encouraged.  
  
Mimi let her eyes drift to X who was now chatting with Joe. "Nothing, Palmon."  
  
Palmon looked at her a little hurt from the lack of honesty. "If you say so, Mimi."  
  
Palmon wasn't convinced though, and she had noticed the looks Mimi had been giving X. And she wondered.  
  
They walked for another while when suddenly X tensed looking at the forest ahead.  
  
Leomon and Ogremon also stopped, prepared for battle. Mimi joined Joe as Palmon and Gomamon stood in front of them.  
  
They watched as the trees in front of them parted for... a Snowman?! Joe looked at it closely and realized their error. It wasn't a snowman, it was a bear made out of snow.  
  
"Frigimon!" Joe echoed Palmon and Gomamon.  
  
Leomon and Ogremon relaxed their guards, and X imitated them, just as another Digimon followed Frigimon.  
  
He looked like a man surrounded completely by flames.  
  
"Meramon! Frigimon!" Leomon greeted. "Good to see you two!"  
  
Ogremon growled noncommittally, and the two newly arrived Digimon looked at him in amusement.  
  
"And I thought the people I knew were weird..." X muttered, but Palmon was able to pick it up. "Now I know why Matt was never really surprised!" he sighed.  
  
Palmon smiled to herself. She liked X, and it was obvious that Mimi had some interest in him. She would to make her friend as happy as possible.  
  
That night as they camped out Palmon whispered something to X, who left the group soon after.  
  
Just as Mimi was about to complain of being hungry, someone offered her an apple.  
  
Taking it gratefully she gave it a bite as she followed the metallic hand up to its owner; X.  
  
She gulped down as she gazed into those deep blue eyes. She almost slapped herself. She was ten years old! Well... eleven, since quite some time had passed in the Digiworld. Still, X was either sixteen or fifteen.  
  
Way older than her, she thought gloomily. He probably wouldn't be interested in a child.  
  
X sat down next to her, biting his own apple. "So, Mimi, we haven't talked much since we met..."  
  
Mimi stared at him for a moment, before turning her attention back to her apple. "Yeah, I know. I guess Matt told you about us when he was with you, right?"  
  
X smiled. "Yeah once he told me I sounded like you."  
  
"He did? When?" She asked, looking up.  
  
"When I asked him why did we have to go on fighting. I wanted to end things differently, but he insisted that for the moment it was the only way." X answered.  
  
Mimi sighed. He had sounded like her then.  
  
"He was probably right," X continued. "But it doesn't change the fact that I wish it had been different."  
  
"There's always another way, the problem is getting people to listen. I believe that fighting is horrible, and I always want to avoid it, but if my loved ones are in danger, then sometimes, I have to take that path to save them." Mimi told him, glancing at Spiral tower. "I think this is one of those times."  
  
X nodded. "I know what you mean."  
  
"I imagine you do." Mimi answered smiling back at him.  
  
X looked at her long enough to make her blush slightly before eating his apple. When he noticed that Mimi had eaten hers, he offered her another one.  
  
And so they stayed, silently watching the forest, the Digimon and the campfire until Mimi fell asleep.  
  
Palmon smiled.  
  
***  
  
The next morning, Mimi was one of the first to wake up. She stretched and looked at the far away Spiral Mountain. She gasped in surprise and ran to wake up Joe and the others.  
  
"Joe! Look at that!" she said as she shook his shoulder.  
  
Joe blinked and rubbed is eyes, staring sleepily at Spiral Mountain. Then he looked again. "Another part is gone! It must be Tai and the others!"  
  
Joe's excited shouting woke up everyone else in camp. X walked up to Leomon.  
  
"What's happening, Leomon?"  
  
"It seems that our friends have managed to defeat one of the Dark Masters." The were-lion responded.  
  
X looked up at Spiral Mountain in the morning haze. "So that's where they are!"  
  
Ogremon nodded as he walked up to them. "Primary Village is on our way there, we'll decide what to do from there."  
  
"Right!" The rest echoed.  
  
***  
  
They entered primary village later that day. It seemed Ogremon was right about the state of the small village. The towers and the large decorated cubes that made up the village were destroyed or half buried into the ground, and the earth had a sickly grayish color.  
  
"Nothing remains." Joe said sorrowfully.  
  
Palmon had tears in her eyes. "Mimi..." The girl knelt next to Palmon and hugged her.  
  
X looked at the devastation, sadly accustomed to such sights. He walked up to Gomamon as Joe shouted for someone to come out. He noticed the depressed look in the Digimon's eyes.  
  
"Hey, Gomamon, why was Primary Village so important? Can't it be rebuilt?"  
  
Gomamon shook his head. "First we'll have to defeat the Dark Masters. Primary village is where Digimon are born or reborn, all the eggs and youngsters stay here until they reach rookie level, under the care of Elecmon."  
  
"Reborn?" X asked.  
  
"Yes, if a Digimon dies and he lead a good life, he will be reborn here." Gomamon explained. "Mimi and Joe are very depressed because many friends have died but won't come back because of the Dark Masters' destruction."  
  
"We were also hoping to find more help around here." Meramon added.  
  
X scanned the area and soon found something. "There's a Digimon in that direction." He said pointing to a nearby lake.  
  
The others followed him and they found Elecmon seated on a rock and throwing small stones into the lake.  
  
"Elecmon!" Mimi shouted when she recognized him.  
  
Elecmon looked up at the approaching group. "So, you're still around?"  
  
"Elecmon, what happened here?" Joe asked.  
  
"Piedmon and his group, that's what." Elecmon told them bitterly. "They came here and told me to give them the eggs and tell them how to hatch them faster, but when I refused they blasted everything!"  
  
"We're fighting the Dark Masters, Elecmon!" Mimi said.  
  
"What can you do? They are very powerful." The electric bunny asked bitterly.  
  
"Look at Spiral Mountain. See those empty spaces? That's because we've managed to defeat Seadramon, Puppetmon and Machinedramon. Only Piedmon and his underlings are left. T.K. and Patamon are over there right now." Mimi answered.  
  
"T.K. and Patamon? Those two kids?" Elecmon asked, remembering his encounter with the youngster.  
  
Gomamon and Palmon nodded.  
  
"Everyone is there; we're gathering Digimon to help them fight. Will you join us?" Palmon asked hopefully.  
  
Elecmon looked thoughtful for a full second. "Sure!"  
  
"We still have to get more Digimon!" Mimi added.  
  
Elecmon nodded. "I might know where to find others."  
  
"Well, let's go!" Palmon shouted.  
  
***  
  
They had found many other Digimon willing to fight against the Dark Master Piedmon, most of them being Gekomon or Otamamon, but still a considerable amount.  
  
As they walked or flied in the direction of Spiral Mountain, they heard the flap of large wings. Looking up they saw Birdramon carrying Sora, T.K. and Patamon.  
  
Next to them was a girl flapping her own black metallic wings as she also landed.  
  
"X!" Jessie greeted.  
  
"Mimi! Joe! Palmon! Gomamon!" T.K., Sora and Patamon shouted in recognition.  
  
Jessie landed and hugged X for a moment, stepping back to look at him. "How've you been, X?"  
  
"I'll tell you later, where's your boyfriend, Peregrine?" X asked.  
  
"Matt's with Tai and Kari. They asked us to find you! Oh, and the name is Jessie when I'm in civvies."  
  
At that moment, Mimi, -who had been looking jealously at Jessie for hugging X- decided to interrupt.  
  
"Did you say you're Matt's girlfriend?!" She asked a little too hopefully.  
  
Jessie nodded, smiling slyly at X. "Yeah, Matt's my boyfriend. Why? Is X up to something?"  
  
X blushed alongside Mimi.  
  
Meanwhile, Sora and T.K. had been staring in surprise at all the Digimon Mimi, Joe, Palmon and Gomamon had gathered together.  
  
T.K. suddenly remembered his brother. "Hey, guys! Tai said that we all needed to be there for the battle against Piedmon!"  
  
Joe nodded resolutely. "But where is he?"  
  
"He's with Kari, Izzi and Matt fighting Ladydevimon!" T.K. informed him.  
  
"What?! We have to go help them!" Leomon interrupted.  
  
"I wouldn't worry that much." Sora commented.  
  
"What?" Joe asked, confused. "Why?"  
  
"We have to go as fast as we can, but Tai has Angewomon, Metalgarurumon, Wargreymon, Kabuterimon and Matt. If something can get past those five I'm not fighting it." Sora added.  
  
"Oh, ok..." Joe looked up. "Wait, Matt? What does he have to do with all of this?!"  
  
"You should have seen my big brother take on Machinedramon!" T.K. shouted gleefully.  
  
Everything stopped in the camp.  
  
"Matt destroyed Machinedramon?!" Mimi asked in disbelief.  
  
"Well, he didn't destroy him, but he did give beat the crap out of that Digimon before Wargreymon finished the job!" Birdramon said.  
  
Joe fainted.  
  
***  
  
Piedmon's castle was barely visible, being the same hue as the ground and still a few kilometers away. It would take them at least half a day to get near it; however, it seemed that it would be a little more than that.  
  
Gatomon was exhausted after her battle with Ladydevimon and Tai wanted everyone to be in the best condition possible for it. Matt couldn't argue with that logic, and it also gave Jessie and the others time to get back.  
  
As he thought of this he noticed his sensors were indicating someone approaching. Looking in the indicated direction, he noticed Birdramon and Jessie about to land.  
  
They had found Joe and Gomamon! Matt ran up to them as they landed. "Matt!" Jessie greeted.  
  
He stopped next to her as Joe and Gomamon noticed him. "Matt!" Joe shouted, running to meet him.  
  
They shook hands. "You look a little different, Matt." Joe noted. "Older maybe... and..." He noticed the metal gauntlets. "You've got metallic gauntlets just like X..."  
  
"Wow! So what X told us was true, Matt? Did you really fight very powerful Digimon and beat them by yourself?" Gomamon asked.  
  
Matt blushed. "Well, not really... wait, did you say X?"  
  
"Yeah, our friend stood behind to keep Mimi and her army company."  
  
Matt smiled. "Really? That's unusually gentlemanly of him."  
  
Joe turned and grabbed Gomamon. "This is too much! Matt disappears for two days and suddenly he looks older, can kick Mega Digi-butt and gets a cute girl! Am I dreaming?"  
  
"No, Joe, I think this is real!" Gomamon assured him.  
  
"Humph! Matt always has the luck!" Joe complained.  
  
Joe turned when he felt Matt's hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Listen, Joe, I know you're joking, but don't ever wish that what happened to me happens to you."  
  
"Guys! We've got a visitor!" Tai warned.  
  
Looking in the direction their friend pointed, they noticed Piedmon walking their way.  
  
Matt wasted no time and turned into Zero. Jessie looked a little doubtful but changed into Black Peregrine.  
  
"My God! It was true!" Joe muttered.  
  
"Guys! Stay back and let Matt, Jessie, Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon take care of him!" Tai warned as he walked forward and grabbed Matt's arm.  
  
"Take care, Matt. I don't care how powerful you feel you are, if you get in danger Metalgarurumon will take you out of the battlefield."  
  
Matt was touched by Tai's worry. "Don't worry my friend. I won't take a risk I don't have to."  
  
As they ran, dashed and flew towards Piedmon, Peregrine had a good look at him.  
  
Piedmon wore a mask that hid his face from view but left the chin and mouth out; he had half his face painted in black and the other in white; he wore baggy pants and sneakers with a twisted point. On his back he carried four broadswords.  
  
"So our enemy is a clown?!" Peregrine asked in surprise when they were close enough.  
  
"Don't underestimate him, Peregrine!" Zero warned. "He was able to fight off both, Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon."  
  
Wargreymon snorted. "He caught us by surprise! He won't do so again!"  
  
"I hope so, Wargreymon," Zero commented as they stopped. "In my line of work there's usually no second chance!"  
  
Piedmon stopped a few feet from them and regarded Zero and Peregrine curiously. "Hmm, I don't know what the two of you hope to accomplish, but if you're trying to die faster, it's a good start."  
  
"Shut up, Piedmon!" Metalgarurumon shouted. "Let's fight!"  
  
Piedmon smiled viciously as he launched himself into the air and pulled out his swords.  
  
Metalgarurumon jumped at him, but the wolf was suddenly surrounded in a ring of fire.  
  
He then shoved a giant circus ball at Wargreymon. The Digimon was surprised by the attack and failed to react in time, becoming trapped inside the ball.  
  
Zero dashed forward, swiping with his blade, but Piedmon stopped his attack with one of his swords.  
  
"Shadow Blast!" Peregrine shouted, releasing a charged attack.  
  
Unlike the times she had used it with Reploids, though, the attack didn't absorb energy; it slammed into the back of Piedmon, throwing him of balance, and giving Zero a chance to spin and cut him.  
  
Piedmon frowned and blasted Peregrine away with an unseen force, then jumped into the air and started floating.  
  
At that moment, Wargreymon jumped out of the circus ball, and tried to slash Piedmon. The latter was too fast and was able to avoid his attack and grab Wargreymon's arm to throw him at an emerging Metalgarurumon.  
  
He was about to laugh when he suddenly jumped back, barely avoiding the fire surrounded blade of Zero. Seeming to stop in mid-air, Zero started spinning with his sword and Piedmon was hard pressed to stop his attack.  
  
Zero's spin finally stopped and he landed gracefully on the ground. Zero stood up and was suddenly face-to-face with Piedmon, who did not look happy.  
  
"You have caused me enough trouble already!" Piedmon started attacking Zero with two of his swords, and encased Peregrine and the two Mega Digimon in a large ball with an almost negligent gesture.  
  
Zero was forced back by Piedmon's combination, swinging his sword in complicated circles and parries, trying to block the Dark Master's unexpected attack.  
  
First one, then two strikes got past Zero's flashing sword, and it passed through the Reploid's head that he was the one that had finally underestimated Piedmon.  
  
Piedmon smiled viciously as if he had read his mind and jumped back and away from him, unleashing his attack.  
  
"Trump Swords!" The evil Digimon shouted as he opened his arms wide. Hundreds of swords flew at an ill prepared Zero.  
  
Zero turned a sharp left avoiding one, jumped slightly up avoiding the next, then crouched in mid-air letting another pass. For a moment it seemed that gravity had no hold on him as Zero dashed forward loosing two more blades, however as soon as he finished his dash one of Piedmon's blades managed to nick the unarmored biceps, then another slashed his thigh as he spun right and he was barely able to turn his head away and avoid a direct hit in the face, but the blade still cut his cheek.  
  
The rest of the swords smashed safely into the ground around him, but Piedmon used the opportunity and threw another sword with deadly accuracy at Zero, managing to pierce the Reploids stomach.  
  
Everyone stared in horror at Matt. Tai and the others could see the sword sticking out of his back.  
  
Piedmon smirked, expecting Zero to become digidust. But Zero didn't disappear, and he managed to shoot a blast that wiped the grin of Piedmon's face as he was sent sprawling.  
  
This distraction was enough for Peregrine and the others to break free.  
  
"Zero!" Peregrine shouted.  
  
"Matt!" Metalgarurumon echoed her.  
  
Both flew towards the fallen Digidestined as Wargreymon took the opportunity and started smashing the recuperating Piedmon.  
  
Metalgarurumon and Peregrine laid Zero away from the battleground as T.K., Sora, Joe, Izzi, Kari, their respective Digimon, Tai and Andromon ran towards them.  
  
Matt noticed T.K. approaching, and tried to grab Peregrine's hand. "Don't let him see..."  
  
But it was too late. The Digidestined were staring in shock at Matt's wounds.  
  
A thin line of blood was sliding down Zero's cheek, and the thigh and arm wounds had similar fluids. However, where Piedmon's sword had gone through, sparks flew and cables were visible.  
  
"Oh, Zero..." Peregrine murmured, looking at the wound. It was bad, but Zero's nanites would heal him if he rested. But she had to take the sword out.  
  
As Peregrine removed the blade, a tear streaked T.K. crawled next to his brother.  
  
"Matt?!" T.K. asked shakily.  
  
"Don't worry, T.K., I'll be alright... I just need..." Matt started to answer as a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, then Zero's self preservation programming kicked in, shutting him down so the nanites would get all the energy needed for repairs.  
  
"Matt?! MATT?" T.K.'s stomach grew cold as his brother closed his eyes and went limp. He started crying when he felt Peregrine's hand on his shoulder.  
  
"It's ok, T.K., he's just sleeping so he can heal faster." The female Reploid assured the young boy.  
  
T.K. looked at her and nodded bravely as Patamon flew up to him trying to comfort him.  
  
"Matt is a robot?!" Joe was speechless.  
  
"A Reploid." Peregrine corrected. "But, Zero is Matt. No one knows how it happened, but he's got a human soul in that body." She looked down at T.K., who was sobbing a little. "But never doubt it, he's Matt."  
  
Just then Tai shouted in surprise. Turning around they weren't able to see Wargreymon.  
  
"Take care of Matt! We'll cover you, right Metalgarurumon?" Peregrine ordered, standing up and starting to charge her blaster.  
  
"Right!" The Mega Digimon answered.  
  
They both left, flying towards Piedmon.  
  
The clown Digimon erected another fire barrier between the Digidestined and their fighting friends. Piedmon was tired of them by now, so he pulled out his handkerchief and threw it at Metalgarurumon and Peregrine.  
  
The white handkerchief extended up until it was able to cover both he quickly removed it and the two fighters were turned into key chains. He grabbed them from the ground; he then covered Tai, tuning him into a key chain too.  
  
The others watched in horror the scene just as Centaurmon and Genai arrived.  
  
"Digidestined!" Genai summoned them. "For you to finally face your destiny you'll have to cross that fire!" The old man told them.  
  
Everyone looked at the firewall dubiously. Zero opened his eyes.  
  
"Listen guys, go, I'll stop Piedmon in the meanwhile..." Zero told them, standing up slowly. The nanites had done enough to close the wound somewhat, although he still had a long way to go to be fully healed.  
  
Seeing that they were still doubtful, Zero shouted and dashed towards Piedmon, his sword flashing.  
  
"Go, Digidestined!" Andromon ordered. "I'll help Matt."  
  
He ran towards the battling figures of Piedmon and Zero as the others looked at each other.  
  
T.K. was the first to stand up. "Let's go!" he said to the others.  
  
***  
  
"Let's rest here for a moment, Mimi. You look very tired." Lillymon said, hovering near her as she sat on a cliff overseeing much of what they had already advanced.  
  
They were now surrounded by hundreds of Gekomon, and even by the legendary unicorn-pegasus mix, Unimon who had also stopped in a nearby cliff.  
  
"I think I heard screams and explosions at the top of the mountain, X." Mimi told her new friend.  
  
"Yeah, I know, but rest a few minutes or you'll drop once we get there." X reasoned.  
  
Mimi thanked him silently and regarded him for a moment. Even though they had been climbing all day he didn't seem tired at all.  
  
"Aren't you tired yet, X?" Mimi asked.  
  
"Nope, I'm okay, but if you're gonna fight you've got to rest." He insisted.  
  
They sat silently for a while, as Lillymon, Palmon's fairylike Digivolution flew around helping the Digimon that had remained behind.  
  
"Tell me, X, do you think we'll make it?" Mimi asked as she watched the struggling Gekomon climb.  
  
"Sure! We've got all your powerful Digimon, Matt, Peregrine and me!" X sad, trying to cheer her up.  
  
Mimi smiled at him and hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, X!"  
  
Lillymon looked up from where she had helped Frigimon get a hold on the cliff again, and smiled.  
  
***  
  
End Chapter 7 


	9. Digital Souls 9 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Chapter 8  
  
T.K. held the key chain that used to be his brother resolutely as he tried to hold on to the rope.  
  
He and Kari were the last standing, Matt, Jessie, Angewomon, Wargreymon, Metalgarurumon, Izzi, Sora, Mega Kabuterimon, Garudamon, Andromon, Gomamon, and Joe had all been turned into dolls.  
  
Sora, Angewomon and Gabumon had managed to get the 'Zero Doll' from Piedmon and had given it to him just before they had been caught.  
  
After that, they had managed to get to a balcony of Piedmon's castle and found a rope that went up into the air and had tried to climb it, but Piedmon had easily found them and cut it.  
  
Angemon had been batted away without a second thought, and now their chances seemed dim at best.  
  
Piedmon laughed as he cut the rest of the rope with one of his swords and the last two Digidestined started to fall.  
  
T.K. tightened his grasp on the doll as he closed his eyes.  
  
"Brother, I believe in all of you! I believe this will turn out all right!"  
  
The emblem of Hope started to glow with intensity and Angemon shot into the sky as he transformed. The metal helm that he used seemed to stretch upwards, and turn into a metallic sheen of purple with a golden cross in it, his wings grew larger and golden ribbons fluttered around him as yet another pair of wings appeared.  
  
Piedmon was as surprised as the kids were when Magna Angemon slammed him with his shield and sent him sprawling.  
  
The angel then caught both T.K. and Kari and hovered down; picking the key chains that Piedmon had lost when he was hit.  
  
***  
  
T.K. finished putting the key-chains in line against a rock.  
  
"Are you sure you can do it, Magna Angemon?" Kari asked a little worried.  
  
Magna Angemon nodded. "Magna Antidote!"  
  
A soft white light engulfed the small dolls and, slowly they started growing.  
  
Everyone stood up; staring at the newly improved angel in surprise, and then checked themselves over.  
  
Zero noticed that his wounds had closed; it seemed that the angel's power was enough to break a curse and cure wounds at the same time. A definite improvement from the previous Digivolution, he thought, but didn't say anything, grateful as he was that he was normal again.  
  
He smiled at Peregrine and the others. "It seems that T.K., Kari and Magna Angemon did what none of us could! Well done T.K.!"  
  
Little T.K. blushed with pride at his brother's prize, he had finally gained Matt's respect.  
  
"Thank you, brother!" The little boy smiled.  
  
"I'm proud of you, T.K." Matt answered.  
  
Without warning, Piedmon appeared surrounded by a cloud of Vilemon; the ugly creatures had black greasy fur that covered their whole bodies and an overly large mouth, full of fangs. Their leathery wings carried them towards the Digidestined and their friends with surprising swiftness.  
  
"I'm not over yet, Digidestined!" Piedmon spat.  
  
The Digimon quickly Digivolved into their Ultimate and Mega forms, although Zero knew that they were severely overpowered by the sheer number of Vilemon.  
  
He decided that using his blaster would be more effective against a large number of opponents and started charging at the same time the Digimon used their powers to keep them away.  
  
Just as he was about to shoot his blast, a huge ball of plasma blew up in the middle of the attacking Vilemon, blasting through them and slamming Piedmon out of the air.  
  
Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the new comers.  
  
X, in his samurai-style armor and surrounded by energy stood by Mimi and Lillymon, just in front of a huge army of Digimon.  
  
X smiled at Zero, and shot into the Vilemon's path. "CHARGE!" he shouted.  
  
All the Digimon, X and Mimi ran forward.  
  
Hundreds of Digimon clashed into the fray, as X cleared a way towards the others. When they were finally together, X shook Zero's hand, then Peregrine's.  
  
"Like old times?" X asked.  
  
Something flashed inside Zero's eyes, and Peregrine smiled. "I'll join you this time!" she said holding her blaster up.  
  
"Special Zero Unit of the Maverick Hunters!" Zero shouted, drawing the attention of all present combatants.  
  
Zero smiled viciously at a Vilemon, who sweated a little. The Reploid started charging his blaster again, and soon he was surrounded by green sparkles of energy, popping around him.  
  
X placed his hand in front of his blaster, both waist level, and started gathering energy as crouched to Zero's right. Bluish-white energy started gathering from his blaster, until small sparkles of the same color were popping around him, mixing with the green ones from Zero.  
  
Peregrine knelt pointing her blaster at the enemies in front and started charging it too. Black energy surrounded her, and soon she also had sparkles of energy floating around her and mixing with the others.  
  
T.K. and Tai shared a look with the others, wondering what it was all about.  
  
"LET'S HUNT!" Zero shouted. Just as Piedmon flew up again, enraged and holding his swords.  
  
The only thing most of the present, Digimon and Digidestined, registered was the explosion as three simultaneous blasts erased from the Digiworld the ugly visage of dozens of Vilemon and blasted into Piedmon with incredible force.  
  
When Joe looked again, Matt, Peregrine and X were in the middle of the stunned Vilemon that had remained in the area.  
  
X's armor had changed color and he was throwing around axes that erased the evil Digimon with each hit. Peregrine was trigger-happy enough for an action movie, destroying anything that stood in front of her... and all that did were Piedmon's hordes.  
  
Matt was a blur of fire, spins, jumps, ice and blasts. The only thing he could see of his sword movements were the disappearing Vilemon.  
  
"Magna Angemon!" T.K. called his friend, who nodded.  
  
The angel flew way over the battle and out of his hand stretched a translucent red blade. With a circular motion, a rune covered stone circle appeared after the blade's wake.  
  
"Destiny Circle!" the angel shouted at the top of his lungs.  
  
The circle rotated and opened, illuminating the surrounding area with a light that shone from inside it.  
  
A whirlwind seemed to suck all of Piedmon's army into it.  
  
The screeching Vilemon soon disappeared into the circle, and Piedmon, who was already on the edge of becoming Digidust, was left alone, fighting against the pull.  
  
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shouted, sending an arrow made of the purest light flying.  
  
"Terra Force!" War Greymon added his own fireball.  
  
"Metal Wolf Claw!" Metalgarurumon echoed the two.  
  
"Electro Shocker!" Mega Kabuterimon's electrical ball flew straight, following and gaining on the other attacks.  
  
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon shouted, sending a ray of light to join the attacks.  
  
"Wing Blade!" Garudamon would not be left behind and her wings shot various shards of multicolored light.  
  
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon growled, slamming his gigantic hammer to the ground sending shocks into the mix of attacks.  
  
Piedmon was hit by all of the attacks, and sent sprawling and smoking into the gate, he became digidust just before reaching it, but it also got sucked in. The door closed after him, finally ending the Dark Masters' reign of terror.  
  
Everything remained silent as the battle ended as suddenly as it had started. The gathered Digimon looked at each other before they started cheering and congratulating each other and the Digidestined.  
  
The Digidestined Digimon devolved back into their rookie forms, their energy spent in that last blast.  
  
After a few minutes, most Digimon decided to go back to their usual lives, and left, with the exception of Ogremon, Andromon and Leomon, who wanted to talk to the three Reploids.  
  
Peregrine walked over to X. "Well, tell me how're things going? Is the battle finally over back home?"  
  
X nodded. "Yes, the Maverick virus has finally been controlled, and the reminders are normal enough for the rest of the hunters to handle."  
  
Peregrine smiled. "That's good to hear, X." Her smile turned smug, and she elbowed him. "And exactly *what* have you been doing with Mimi?"  
  
Lillymon, who had been watching over X, quickly spoke up. "He's been a lot of help to Mimi! They've been walking together, talking together..."  
  
X blushed mush and more as the list continued.  
  
"... Sleeping together..." This called Peregrine's attention.  
  
"X! I didn't know you were that kind of guy..." she teased. "And on the first date! I'm impressed!"  
  
Both girls smiled as X mumbled trying to explain it was not what it seemed and that he would never do such a thing.  
  
They knew it, of course, but teasing was a good way to relax after battle.  
  
On the other side, Mimi was finally meeting the new and improved Matt. She stood in front of him, looking up and down his armored body. "I don't like that rusted color, why don't you try blue like X?"  
  
Matt almost fell over, but understood what she was trying to say.  
  
"I missed you too, Mimi," He smiled. "And why's X armor color so attractive to you?"  
  
All the present started talking and walking as Piedmon's castle became smaller and smaller behind them.  
  
When the ground started shaking they were reasonably surprised.  
  
They turned around and saw Piedmon's castle crumbling down, but there was also a strange feeling of impending doom in the air.  
  
Izzi's computer started beeping and everyone felt like their stomach was on ice.  
  
With a trembling hand, Izzi opened his laptop and the wrinkled face of Genai appeared on screen.  
  
"Digidestined, this is your final enemy, an enemy unlike you have faced before!" the old man explained.  
  
Tai pushed Izzi to the side and glared at the old man. "Genai, why is it that you always tell us things a little too late?!"  
  
The old man ignored Tai. "Listen to me, Digidestined! Every time the Digital world comes under attack, the Digidestined are called from the real world to save both worlds. You are the last Digidestined to be called here."  
  
As he talked, a dark cloud seemed to extend over the sky, but as they looked closer they realized that the cloud was, in reality, a dark void, and soon they were surrounded by it and seemed to be floating in space.  
  
Leomon, Andromon, Ogremon, X and Peregrine disappeared from view just as Genai's transmission was cut short.  
  
"Peregrine?! X?!" Matt asked, staring at the place where they had been standing.  
  
"We've got other problems right now, Matt!!" Gabumon warned.  
  
Matt turned around and stared at the strange metallic mine-like thing that had appeared in front of them.  
  
***  
  
Peregrine and X watched the others disappear in darkness, leaving them with three confused Digimon.  
  
"Zero?!" Asked with no response. Peregrine grabbed Ogremon and shook him. "Where is he?!"  
  
"Calm down!" Said a voice from overhead. They all looked up at Genai, who seemed to be piloting some kind of mecha, much like the ones X had piloted from time to time. Next to him, a centaur-like creature with a helm covering it's face landed.  
  
"Centaurmon! What is happening here?" Leomon asked the half horse Digimon.  
  
"The Digidestined are fighting Apocalymon for the future of the Digi World, and theirs." The centaur answered.  
  
"Can't we do anything to help?!" X asked.  
  
Genai shook his head. "No. The Digidestined are the only ones with the programming to survive. If we were there we would be erased. But don't worry; as soon as it's safe we'll be reunited with them."  
  
Peregrine sat down dejected, and looked up as X kneeled next to her.  
  
"Don't worry; I'm sure Matt will be okay." X offered.  
  
Peregrine smiled. "Thanks, X. Mimi will be alright too."  
  
X blushed and mumbled something unintelligible.  
  
"Isn't there a way to at least know what's happening?" Leomon asked Genai.  
  
The old man looked pensive for a moment. "Well, there is a way..."  
  
***  
  
Genai led them away from the remains of Piedmon's castle. To a nearby cliff.  
  
"Down there we may be able to see what is happening, but we'll be unable to interfere."  
  
Ogremon looked down the cliff into velvety darkness and stepped back. "You want us to jump in there?"  
  
Genai nodded, and Peregrine shared a look with X, who nodded. She turned around and X slid his hands under her arms and grabbed her shoulders, and then held on as she spread her wings and started beating them softly, and separated them some centimeters of the ground.  
  
"Let's go!" Peregrine said and made a head dive into the darkness below with X holding on for dear life.  
  
Leomon and Ogremon shared a worried look, but Genai comforted them. "Don't worry; nothing will happen to you two if you jump." He said, almost believing his own words.  
  
The two rivals looked at each other and shrugged. The next moment both were falling into the darkness.  
  
***  
  
X and Peregrine seemed to drift in the darkness for only a few seconds before being enveloped by a blinding light. As soon as they opened their eyes, they were surprised to see that they seemed to be floating in space.  
  
A shooting star passed behind X in the distance as Peregrine regarded her friend thoughtfully. They seemed to be weightless, as if they were in space.  
  
X pointed to a large figure, a black helm covered it's giant head, making it look like a giant raven, with red eyes, the lower half of is body seemed to be trapped inside a kind of metallic polyhedron.  
  
The creature was laughing insanely, and both Reploids noted the absence of the Digidestined and their Digimon.  
  
"Where are they?!" X asked his friend.  
  
"This doesn't look good!" Genai said appearing in a flash of light alongside Leomon, Ogremon, Andromon and Centaurmon.  
  
"Why?" Ogremon asked.  
  
"It seems that the Digidestined have been turned into separate data by Apocalymon!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Ogremon, Leomon, Andromon, Centaurmon, Peregrine and X all shouted at the same time, incredulous at the old man's calm.  
  
"What's that?!" X asked pointing just in front of the monster.  
  
One by one small spheres of colored light were appearing in front of Apocalymon, they condensed into eight forms. Even in the distance, the brilliant light enabled them to see their forms.  
  
"Those are the emblems!" Genai exclaimed. "There's still hope!"  
  
"The emblems?" X asked confused.  
  
Genai nodded and pointed at the one in the left. "From left to right:"  
  
A yellow glyph that represented light shining out of a sun spiraled surrounded by dust of the same color.  
  
"That's the Emblem of Hope. T.K.'s Emblem." Genai said.  
  
He then pointed to a purple star-like sigil that also rotated surrounded by colored dust. "The Emblem of Light, Kari's Emblem."  
  
The next looked like a drop of water made of green crystal that glowed as it also spun around. "The Emblem of Sincerity, Mimi's emblem."  
  
X sighed in relief.  
  
"That's Tai's Emblem of Courage." Genai identified the orange sun next.  
  
The fifth filled Peregrine's heart with hope, as she recognized the glyphs that represented two blue hands one over the other. "The Emblem of Friendship." She said, and Genai nodded.  
  
A red heart was next in line, spinning proudly and illuminating the area around it with it's translucent red light. "Sora's Emblem of Love." Genai said.  
  
Next, glowing gray was a cross that shined almost shyly. X smiled guessing who's it was. "Joe?"  
  
Genai nodded. "Yes, he carries the Emblem of Reliability."  
  
Finally, two purple circles, one bigger with smaller circles inside connected to another circle started glowing as strong as the others did. "Izzi's Emblem of Knowledge."  
  
They watched in rapt attention as the emblems became smaller. Their light seemed to blind Apocalymon and the creature roared in pain and surprise.  
  
The emblems stopped getting smaller. All the shining dust around them coalesced on the glyphs and slowly the forms of the Digidestined humans and Digimon materialized.  
  
The observers couldn't hear what was happening, but the Digimon evolved into their ultimate and Mega forms.  
  
The Ultimates destroyed some kind of metallic claws Apocalymon shot at the kids as Matt, Tai, War Greymon and Metalgarurumon reached their enemy.  
  
The two Mega Digimon used their attacks on the monster and it seemed everything was over when it started panting in pain.  
  
Apocalymon said something then and started glowing eerily; the Digidestined seemed to be almost panicked into being paralyzed.  
  
Suddenly, their Digivices glowed and some sort of semi-transparent cube formed around the gigantic monster. They then saw Apocalymon burst into light inside the cube, which expanded a little before disappearing, along with the explosion. The battle was over.  
  
"It's time for us to meet our friends!" Genai noted.  
  
***  
  
The Digidestined stared at the place where Apocalymon had made his last, desperate move.  
  
He would have destroyed both worlds. With that in mind, the Digidestined had put all their hope and wishes into the Digivices, which had managed to contain the explosion.  
  
They were all tired, but proud. Even Matt, after surviving many battles and terrors, was convinced that no one else would've done what they had and come out victorious.  
  
"Matt!"  
  
"Mimi!"  
  
Both turned to see Peregrine carrying X towards them, closely followed by the others.  
  
"X!" Mimi was happy at the sight and jumped at X, hugging him. Unknowingly mimicking Peregrine and Matt.  
  
X blushed but returned the hug looking at Matt for help. The former captain of the Maverick Hunters just smiled and gave him the trademarked thumbs up and stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
***  
  
"So, it's time to say goodbye?" T.K. asked Genai.  
  
"Yes," The old man nodded. "Now that the disruption has finally passed, time in both your world and the Digital World has stabilized and time will pass equally in both worlds."  
  
The Digidestined had been taken to the place where it had all started; File Mountain. There they would take a ride inside a wagon to their home.  
  
However, not everyone was sure on their decision.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tai asked Matt.  
  
"I mean what I said, Tai. I'm going to stay here."  
  
"But, why?" the leader of the Digidestined insisted.  
  
"I don't think the world is ready to accept me, Jessie or X." Matt said, crossing his arms and looking away. "I don't want to be caught and opened by a group of scientists just to see what makes me tick."  
  
Matt looked at his hands.  
  
After the battle with Apocalymon, X had finally told them that Dr. Cain and his comrades had designed a new chip that would enable all of them to have normal hands instead of the Metallic gauntlets.  
  
They had tried them and they had functioned perfectly, Jessie's own hid her wings with her armor. They now looked like a group of young teenagers.  
  
"The truth Tai," Matt started looking at his friend. "Is that I'm... afraid."  
  
This stopped Tai's rant.  
  
"A-afraid?" Tai stammered. "But, why?"  
  
"Tai, tell me what I'm gonna tell my parents?"  
  
Tai was silent as the Reploid continued. "I won't grow old. I can't really go to school, or lead a normal teenage life. I want to see them, but I also want to have more time with Jessie. I could go back to the Reploid's world, but..."  
  
"You have to face your parents, Matt!" Gabumon interrupted him.  
  
Matt turned around to look in surprise at his friend. "Gabumon?"  
  
"Matt, you know I would love you to stay, but this is as much a responsibility as leading a group into the Nuclear Base and disabling those missiles."  
  
Matt's eyes softened as he regarded his friend.  
  
"I think your parents deserve to know what happened, Matt." The Digimon insisted.  
  
Matt smiled at his friend and after a moment, finally nodded. "True."  
  
***  
  
As the eclipse that signaled the time for the Digidestined to return started, the air was filled with the merry sound of a harmonica played by a master.  
  
As he played, Matt closed his eyes, considering everything he had gone through. In his mind he replayed his life.  
  
From the anger and pain of his parents' divorce, and the separation from his brother, to that day in the camp where it all started.  
  
The battle with Devimon, then Etemon. Only to have to go back home in a desperate search to find the 8th Digidestined before Myotismon could get Kari.  
  
Then, they had to fight the giant monster Venom Myotismon, who seemed to be a beast out of hell.  
  
Then they had come back to the Digital World, finding years had passed and new enemies had appeared in the forms of Metal Seadramon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon and Piedmon.  
  
When he had met Cherrymon, he found himself and Metalgarurumon fighting Tai out of his envy for his friend's relationship with his brother.  
  
That was when he had decided to go away and his adventures in that alternate Earth as the Maverick Hunter Zero had begun.  
  
Everything seemed to be in a whirlpool as he faced his life. They had grown up. All of them. Mostly out of necessity, but they had emerged victorious out of a long history of fights, dreams and understanding.  
  
Matt hadn't understood himself that well until he had met all of his friends; Digimon, Reploid and Human.  
  
He had gone a long way, but, for what? He was about to leave his Digimon friends and face a challenge he didn't really want to.  
  
He was going to have to explain to his family what had happened to him.  
  
T.K. had seen much more than his parents had in their whole lives, but he hadn't really understood what had happened to his brother.  
  
To T.K., Zero was still a cool power his brother and his new friends had found. Nothing more. He still saw his brother, albeit a little older perhaps. Matt could only wish that things remained the same after he had explained.  
  
He realized that it really wasn't a problem, since he still possessed Dr. Cain's technology and would be able to come back. But he was still afraid of repulsion on his parents' side.  
  
"Matt, it's time." Gabumon interrupted.  
  
Matt looked up at his friend, and nodded.  
  
***  
  
The wagon took off with the shrill sound of Gatomon's whistle and as it started moving, the group looked out of the window and waved at the friends they were leaving behind.  
  
When Matt looked into the eyes of the others, realization finally hit him. Tai and the others had found out what he was the night before but they had treated him as always, he then remembered Sora's words when she had caught him talking to Jessie about his identity problems.  
  
Sora had turned away and started walking back to the others, when she had noticed that he didn't want to say anything yet. "Remember, Matt, we've been together through thick and thin. I don't know what a Maverick Hunter is, but I know you'll tell us when the time is right."  
  
It wasn't the part about telling them what Sora meant to tell him. It was the fact that they were his friends, and more. They all felt sort of like brothers. They were his family.  
  
Matt smiled and joined X, Jessie and the others in their waving.  
  
Maybe some people wouldn't understand, and maybe his parents would be spooked, but this family, those who had shared the sweat, tears and blood with him would never leave.  
  
Wherever they were. T.K., Jessie, Gabumon, Tai, X, Izzi, Sora, Joe, Mimi, Palmon, Agumon, Kari, Gatomon, Gomamon, Biyomon, Tentomon and Patamon, there, with each one of them, he would find his home.  
  
They were a large family, true, but he would be there to protect them, for he was a Hunter... and, most importantly, their friend.  
  
Concentrated as they were in the world below them, no one noticed the bright glow of the crest of friendship.  
  
*** 


	10. Digital Souls 10 Revised

Digital Souls  
By Wanderer D  
Epilogue  
  
A rainbow of multicolored light slowly descended into the destroyed part of Odaiba. Out of it stepped nine figures.  
  
"Mom! Dad!" T.K. shouted as he saw his parents waiting for them amid the wreckage of the city.  
  
The worried parents had gathered up in a small camp to wait for their missing children. It had been a day and a half since they had left and everyone was starting to get really worried.  
  
When T.K.'s shout broke the silence everyone looked up to see their precious children running towards them.  
  
Shouts of joy emerged from the camp as the parents also stood up and ran to meet their kids.  
  
Matt, X and Jessie stayed behind as the others ran past them to jump and hug their parents with tears in their eyes.  
  
Jessie and X shared a look before looking at Matt, who had taken a step forth, then stopped again.  
  
"Matt..." X started.  
  
"I-I can't!" Matt said, taking a step back, then another, before turning around and start running away.  
  
T.K. noticed this, along with the rest of the Digidestined and their parents.  
  
"Matt?" His father stuttered in surprise.  
  
"Damnit!" Tai shouted. "I thought he..." He faced the other Digidestined.  
  
"We have to find Matt and tell him to come to his senses." Tai announced.  
  
Everyone nodded. "We'll use the Digivice to find him." Izzy suggested.  
  
X, who had walked up to them nodded. "I still have the frequency we used back home. I tried to get to him using our radio, but he's closed all communications."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Matt's father demanded. "And who are you?"  
  
X ignored him. "Peregrine and I will move faster than you. So we'll scout ahead. I know how Matt works, so he shouldn't be too far."  
  
Jessie had walked up to them during X's speech.  
  
"Let's hunt." X finished grimly.  
  
All the adults stared in astonishment as X was surrounded by blue-white light that morphed into his armor. Ignoring the stares, X jumped to the top of a crumbled building and dashed away.  
  
Jessie stared at the place where X had left, then shook her head.  
  
"He must really be worried about Matt." She mused aloud.  
  
Matt's and T.K.'s parents stopped her as she was about to leave along with the Digidestined.  
  
"And who might you be, young lady?" she asked.  
  
T.K., who had been waiting for Jessie in hopes of getting into the air with her answered, "She's Matt's girlfriend! Isn't that great!? Matt's gonna get married!"  
  
"T.K.!" Jessie shouted getting red suddenly. "We're not getting married yet!"  
  
Matt's parents were speechless for a moment, before smiling to each other. Their little boy had grown up so much! This girl was obviously older than Matt was, and it seemed their son had captivated her.  
  
"So, are you one of the Digidestined?" Matt's mother asked.  
  
"Well, not really... anyway, I think it's best if we talk when Matt's here." She quickly said.  
  
To avoid further questions, she turned to face T.K.  
  
"Hey, T.K. would you like to fly with me?" she asked.  
  
"Sure!" T.K. answered, trying not to sound to eager but failing miserably.  
  
"Fly?" T.K.'s dad asked.  
  
Jessie answered by turning into Black Peregrine. Just like X, she was surrounded, only by dark shadows instead of light, which coalesced into her wings and armor.  
  
She knelt and T.K. so that T.K. could hop on her back, then turned to look at her boyfriends' parents.  
  
"We'll bring Matt back, don't worry!" She promised before taking off.  
  
T.K.'s mother looked at the flying pair with a strange expression.  
  
***  
  
Tai had been looking around for almost half an hour, when he suddenly heard voices.  
  
"You can't be serious, Zero!" X voice resounded as he approached.  
  
"You'd never understand, X!" Matt retorted.  
  
"What I do understand is that you're hurting a lot of people, including yourself with that attitude." X answered. "I can't force you to go, though, so be sure of what you're doing... and to whom."  
  
Tai saw X step out of a building, and seat down on the sidewalk. He walked into the building noticing the helpless shrug X gave him.  
  
"I've contacted Jessie, and she's gathering everyone." X looked at Tai for a moment. "I think you should talk to him, Tai."  
  
The leader of the Digidestined nodded.  
  
***  
  
The first thing he noticed when he entered was the wall. Or lack of it. It had been turned to dust and he could clearly see the marks of Matt's fists on the floor.  
  
For a moment he considered waiting for the others to get there or ask X to accompany him, remembering with a shudder what Matt was capable of doing.  
  
But he kept on alone, somewhat confident in his friend's most outstanding characteristic; friendship.  
  
"Matt?" He asked. He found his friend hunching miserably on the corner of a small room.  
  
"Let me be, Tai... I don't need to talk to you." Matt said gloomily.  
  
Tai took a little step back, hurt at his friend's tone of voice, but then remembered why he had come in the first place.  
  
"You will listen, Matt. I don't know what you are so afraid of, but your parents are dead worried about you... and I know that you want to see them, after all this time..."  
  
Matt flinched slightly, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Matt..." the boy insisted.  
  
"They won't understand, Tai." Matt interrupted suddenly. "You guys did because we are all used to weird things by now, but my parents?" he shook his head. "They... you don't know them, Tai."  
  
"But you would rather run away than face them?! You? Zero of the-"  
  
"DON'T GET ME STARTED, TAI!" Matt shouted as he jumped to his feet and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling back his fist.  
  
For a terrifying moment, Tai thought his friend would strike him, but Matt lowered him down and punched the wall, tearing a chunk of it.  
  
Which didn't calm Tai's uneasiness.  
  
"Tai... what will I do if my parents are horrified of what I've become?" Matt sighed.  
  
Tai didn't answer, but another voice did.  
  
"Then you would come with me," Izzy said. "Or Joe, or Tai or Sora or Mimi. Or You, Peregrine and X can start out on your own. You have the abilities Matt."  
  
"Izzy?" Matt asked as the others filled in the room. He could see Peregrine and X waiting outside the building.  
  
"But I don't think your parents would mind, Matt," Joe added. "Your father took in Gabumon and Garurumon in stride without a problem."  
  
"And your mother let little T.K. go with you because she knows she can trust you." Sora added.  
  
Matt looked pensive for a moment before nodding at them. He couldn't run from his family and his past. Either they would accept him or not. "Let's go."  
  
***  
  
"Dad..." Matt said hesitantly.  
  
"Matt!" his father ran up to him and hugged him, followed shortly by his mother.  
  
"We were so worried, Matt..." his mother started, as she got up to get a look at their son. "Why did you run away?"  
  
"I..." Matt couldn't answer right away.  
  
"Don't worry dear," his mother said, smiling. "So, do you want to introduce us to your new friends?" She asked looking at both X and Jessie.  
  
"Oh, mom, dad, this is my best friend; X," Matt said motioning for the Reploid to step forward.  
  
"Please to meet you," X said, bowing slightly.  
  
"We've been through a lot together." Matt added. "And this is my girlfriend, Jessie."  
  
Jessie stepped forward and bowed following X's example. "Please to meet you." She said smiling.  
  
His mother's smile was a little more forced now. "And... is she human?"  
  
Tai and the others blink-blinked as Matt got a sinking feeling. "What does it have to do with anything?"  
  
"Dear, she's nice and all... but you're human, and you can't date outside your species." she explained, chiding him as if he were a child.  
  
"And why not?!" Jessie asked suddenly. "You think only humans can feel love?"  
  
Matt's mother glared at her. "I can't know for sure, but my son should be with another human."  
  
His father then stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder. "These kids have been through a lot, they've pulled through situations that most of us wouldn't dare even try to face. They've grown more united than ever, trusting each other and their feelings to go on..." he looked at Jessie and smiled reassuringly. "To be honest I feel both her and X are able to feel love, compassion... even anger and fear of rejection... if she loves our son, then we should feel grateful that someone is willing to lay her heart to him unconditionally."  
  
"That's ridiculous." Matt's mother said, slapping away his father's hand.  
  
"Mom..." Matt growled warningly.  
  
"She's not human!" his mother shouted, pointing at her. "What else do you need? You saw her transform! She's one of those Digimon! Our son can't marry one of them! I know they're loyal friends, like pets but-"  
  
"She's not a Digimon!" Matt snapped. "And even if she were I would love her just the same! You don't even know what we've done for each other! How can you judge her?!"  
  
"I'm a Reploid." Jessie said slowly, softly. "And I do feel love... and sadness." then she looked up fiercely. "And I would do anything for Matt."  
  
"I won't let you." Matt's mother said, standing.  
  
"You don't have a say in it, Mom." Matt made the last word sound harsh.  
  
His mother glared at him then turned around, picked up T.K. and walked away.  
  
"Mom..." Matt started forward, but his father stopped him.  
  
"Let her be, Matt..." he looked up seeing his father's pained expression, and nodded.  
  
"Let's go home, Matt, X, Jessie." his father said, looking at the other two. "We'll decide what to do after diner."  
  
- o - Another Time: Another Universe - o -  
  
The dimensional door opened, filling the space between the metallic bars with a shimmering light that slowly glazed into a smooth surface.  
  
A hand, protected by a red and black gauntlet carefully caressed the surface, creating ripples that disrupted the surface for a few seconds.  
  
"Is this where they went, Blue Raven?" the owner of said hand, a female clad in red and black, bird-like armor asked.  
  
"This is where Dr. Cain sent them, yes," The male Reploid, clad in a similar, blue, bird-like armor answered. "I do not know if they're still there, though."  
  
"Only one way to find out." The female stated. "I'll go scout now."  
  
"Good luck with them, Red." Blue Raven said, saluting.  
  
"No such thing as luck in this case, Raven." Red Cardinal answered, stepping into the portal. "Either she comes back to us, or she dies."  
  
***  
  
Digital Souls  
  
The End 


	11. Appendix

Appendix  
  
The Digital World  
  
The Digital World was created when humans started experimenting on Artificial Intelligence, even on its simplest form. It is better explained in Digimon 02 and Digimon Tamers (the third season of Digimon) where the relationship between computer generated creatures for games slowly became aware of themselves and their surroundings, starting with the Tamagotchi. The Digital world slowly came into being in a Dimension connected to ours, where the Digital life forms grew, mostly unaware of the existence of humans. Genai and his kin were in a way the administrators of the Digital World in Chinglongmon's area. It was revealed in Tamers that the Digital World was divided into four, self-contained areas and controlled by extremely powerful Digimon. Digimon Adventure and Digimon 02 take place in the first of these areas, while Tamers takes place in Azulongmon's area. I wouldn't be surprised if Digimon Frontier took place in one of the two remaining "servers" (taking the concept from Digimon World 2003).  
  
The Digidestined  
  
Each Digimon series has its own Digidestined; children with abilities that help them create an empathic link with their Digimon and also to protect the Digital World. The first Digidestined to appear in the series were those from Digimon Adventure, and are the ones that appear in Digital Souls. Tai, the leader, bears the crest of Courage, his Digimon is Agumon. Matt, the lone-wolf, bears the crest of Friendship, his Digimon is Gabumon.  
  
Sora, the sports-girl, bears the crest of Love, and her Digimon is Biyomon.  
  
Joe, the eldest, bears the crest of Reliability, and his Digimon is Gabumon. Mimi, the empathic cry-baby of the group, bears the crest of Sincerity, and her Digimon is Palmon. Izzi, the local genius, bears the crest of Knowledge, and his Digimon is Tentomon. Kari, Tai's younger sister, is the Digidestined of Light, and her Digimon is Gatomon. T.K., Matt's younger brother, is the Digidestined of Hope, and his Digimon is Patamon.  
  
Matt and his Harmonica  
  
Matt always carries with him his harmonica. He plays all the time in the Digimon Adventure series and would never part with it unless he somehow lost it in dire circumstances or someone took it from him. In the series, he loses it when he is dragged into a cave where his feelings of loneliness are slowly consuming him.  
  
Digimon and Digi-evolutions  
  
Digimon Digivolve in the following order in the dubbed versions: Digi-Egg In training Rookie Champion Ultimate Mega  
  
All the Digidestined Digimon remain in their Rookie forms; except for Gatomon, who is a Champion Level Digimon.  
  
Dark Masters  
  
The Dark Masters were the Mega Level Digimon that took control of the Digital World when the Digidestined were back in the earth battling Myotismon. They were: Metal Seadramon Puppetmon Machinedramon Piedmon  
  
Primary Village  
  
When Digimon die, their data is recycled, and it creates another Digi-Egg, starting the cycle all over again. The place where the data creates those Digi-Eggs is Primary Village.  
  
Time and Space and the Digital World  
  
The Digital World was originally off-sync with the real world. The Digidestined stayed in the Digital World for months and only a few minutes passed in Earth.  
  
Parallel Dimensions  
  
Parallel Dimensions were not included in the original Digimon series except for the Digital World, of course. It is NOT however, a world that exists at the same place and time as ours, such as the "Wired" from Lain. It does create the possibility that it is connected to more than one world, though, which is suggested -in a way- in the other series; the Dark World from Digimon 02, Chinglongmon's domain or "server" in Tamers and the other Digimon "Worlds" mentioned in Digimon Frontier.  
  
X's Universe  
  
X's world is a Post-Apocalyptic-Technologically-Advanced Earth where Reploids (explained below) and Humans have learnt to live together in peace and harmony. The events of this "apocalypse" or catastrophe are not detailed; all that is known is that civilization was almost destroyed. Taking place in the year 20XX, a virus that makes some Reploids act violently, known as the Maverick Virus, has been spreading and a group of trained Reploids known as the Maverick Hunters are the only ones that can stop them.  
  
Reploids  
  
Reploids are the most similar thing a robotic entity can be to a human. Their AI (Artificial Intelligence) and their emotion chips are so advanced that they actually think and feel like any human. They are capable of love, hate and fear, and even made their own country, with an army called Repliforce, which disappeared in a battle with the Maverick Hunters. They have learnt to live with humans and both groups treat the other as they would treat their own, even when the Reploids are generally stronger.  
  
Robot Masters  
  
The term "Robot Masters" comes from a long history dating from before the so-called apocalypse that changed the world, although few in X's time are aware of this. It is a group of extremely powerful Robots, or in this case Reploids that command the forces that attack the human race and their allies. They can be just mercenaries, like Slash Beast, true Mavericks like Ice Mammoth or even Captains and Generals from Repliforce like Iris, or Ex- Maverick Hunters like Magma Dragoon.  
  
Dr. Wily and Dr. Light  
  
The two minds behind most of the development of the Reploids were Dr. Wily and Dr. Light. Together, in a time when Wily was Light's apprentice, they created the first self-conscious robot: Protoman (Blues). After a lab explosion, where Protoman escaped, Wily became obsessed with power and used the 8 Robots he and Light had created for different tasks, from mining to electric control, to try to take over the world. The robots were very powerful and Dr. Light was forced to modify one of the two household robots he had created called Rock to become a weapon to stop them. The other, a female robot named Roll remained a household robot. Rock changed his name into "Megaman" and fought and defeated Wily's Robot Masters time and again.  
  
Megaman and Megaman X  
  
The relationship between Megaman and Megaman X or simply "X", is hazy. X was created by Dr. Light as a much, much more advanced version of Megaman, and left inside a capsule for years until his program had been debugged and developed properly. Some think that X and Megaman are the same Robot/Reploid, but recent developments such as Zero's continuous revelations of their past slowly unmask the truth. For all intents and purposes, in Digital Souls and as far as I'm concerned, X and Megaman are two completely different -if related- beings.  
  
Dr. Cain  
  
Dr. Cain is the man responsible for the proliferation of Reploids. He found X's capsule buried inside a destroyed Laboratory and used the blue-prints to start making Reploids and soon other Engineers followed his footsteps until the world became what it is in X's universe.  
  
Zero  
  
Zero was created by Wily as the ultimate weapon against X and Megaman. He is as strong as X and, like his nemesis, is more than a mere Reploid. Ironically enough, Zero and X became somewhat like brothers, so strong is their friendship. If Wily found out, he wouldn't be so happy about it...  
  
Sigma  
  
Sigma was the captain of the Maverick Hunters. Very strong and with an iron will, he fought off hundreds of Mavericks until he became the most powerful Maverick himself. Sigma's Maverick Virus is different than the normal one, and seems to make him more powerful after each defeat. 


End file.
